Saving Agent Wilcox
by PoeticallyIncorrect1
Summary: Jai is wounded when an op goes wrong and now he and Annie must wait to be rescued.  Takes place sometime after season finale.    Many thanks to mandy58 for the story title idea.
1. Famous Last Words

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters. _

_Since the show mainly uses real locations in their episodess 'Wiki' has been my friend in coming up with locations._

_ I like to write Jai, Annie and Auggie as agents/friends who work well together. Fanfic really needs for the TV section a cast option as everybody is featured to some extent. _

_Again thanks to mandy58 for the title sudggestion as I do not post a fic anymore until I have a title for it._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

It had started out as just an another day at the CIA headquarters in Langley. In the office of the DCS Arthur Campbell was reviewing the latest intelligence reports when one caught his eye. Quickly scanning through it he proceeded to make three rushed copies before heading for the DPD.

"What's going on, Arthur?" Joan Campbell asked as she watched him enter without knocking.

"This just came in from our Eastern European field station. A couple of backpacking college students managed to stumble upon an alleged chemical weapons factory deep in the Belarusian side of the Bialowieza Forrest," Arthur said to the DPD director.

"Are they certain the intel is accurate?' Joan asked taking the offered file.

"Certain enough that we need to send someone out to verify it ," Arthur replied.

"Who do you have in mind?" his wife inquired flipping it open to reveal blurry photos obviously quickly taken from a distance.

"Annie walker. She's not working on any current ops. Neither is Jai," the head of the DCS answered.

"I'll read Auggie in. Not that I'm expecting there to be trouble but it be wise to have someone monitoring from here," Joan decided. She stepped outside her office to peer out into the bullpen. "Annie, Jai, please come to my office."

"Ooh, what did you two do now?" Auggie Anderson joked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Annie shot back as she and Jai Wilcox got up from their desks.

"You too, Auggie," Joan added. She watched the tech op begin making his way to her office.

"Looks like you're in trouble too," Annie teased.

"Can I blame it all on Jai?" Auggie wondered.

"It was _your _idea that we go try that new Thai place that opened," the other man reminded him.

"That's 'cause you were paying," Auggie said with a grin.

Entering the office, the three agents immediately stopped the good natured teasing and took seats on the couch.

Handing copies of the file to Annie and Jai, the director said, "The Eastern European field station got a report of a possible chemical weapons factory in Belarus."

"You can hardly make out what's in the pictures," Annie pointed out. As she flipped through her copy of the file.

"Has there been satellite confirmation of the sighting?" Jai asked.

Not yet," Arthur replied. I need you and Annie to fly to Minsk and talk to the college students. They're currently enjoying the hospitality of the American embassy."

"Nothing but the best?" Auggie spoke up.

"_If _the students' story can be verified then we'll go on from there," Arthur continued.

"How soon do we leave?" Jai asked.

"There's a flight leaving from _Dulles_ at 4:30 this afternoon. It lands at _Heathrow _where you'll be flying non stop to Minsk . Mike Foster from the Eastern European field station will meet you at the airport. "You're booked under the names Angela Rigsby and Jai Nandin."

"It should take you maybe four-five days at the most. At this point in time we're not anticipating anything going wrong," Joan added.

"Famous last words, Joan," Auggie predicted..

The DPD director turned to him and said, "That's why I want you and the other techs on top of the situation so in case anything goes wrong."

"Got it," he replied.

"You have three hours to get packed and be at the airport," Arthur told Annie and Jai.

"Is that all?' the young woman asked.

"Yes. When you get to Minsk I'll be expected regular check ins." Arthur answered.

"Pausing by his desk to collect his jacket, Jai looked over to Annie and said, "Whoever came up with our cover names has an odd sense of humor. Nandin means _delightful son_."

"Isn't that your middle name?' she asked.

"Yes, it is," Jai answered. "How about instead of us both driving to the airport, I'll pick you up on my way there?"

"Sounds like a plan," the young woman replied.


	2. Brussells Sprouts Are  Not On The Menu

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_This is all I have written in order so far. Next update tomorrow night at the earliest. I need to work to feed plot bunnies. _

_Please do not ask me where I came up with the brussells sprouts/alien brains as I have no idea. Plot bunnies must have been on a sugar high._

_Best barbeque I ever had has been in one of the towns around Kansas City-Belton, MO._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Arriving home Annie immediately grabbed her correct passport and stuffed in into her purse before pulling out her wheeled carryon bag and setting in on the bed. Mentally estimating the amount of time they'd be gone, she began selecting the clothes what she'd need.

"Hey, I saw your car in the drive and was wondering if you wanted join me on quick trip to get a few things at the market," Danielle said, as she opened the door and entered without knocking.

"I would but I've got to be at the airport in about two hours," Annie answered as she grabbed a few items from the nightstand.

"So where are you off to now?" Danielle asked idly as she watched Annie pack.

"Kansas City. We're looking at possibly acquiring a couple of the paintings from the collection at the _Nelson-Atkins Museum Of Art_," Annie replied without looking up.

"What is there to do besides visiting an art gallery?" the older sister asked.

"Barbeque. KC is known for it's barbeque."

"Speaking of which, you haven't brought Jai over since that night," Danielle pointed out.

"I wasn't sure he was ready for a typical dinner with the Brooks-Walker clan. You know, Claire spilling her milk and Chloe refusing to eat her brussel sprouts because some boy in her class referred to them as _alien brains_," Annie replied with a laugh.

"You should invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner unless he has other plans," her sister suggested.

"I'll do that. He just might enjoy it," Annie replied.

"Well, I'll leave you to pack in peace and make a quick veggie change for dinner," Danielle commented as she headed for the door.

"You didn't?" Annie asked with a smile.

"I did. Forgot about the _alien brains_ incident," her sister answered.

"Well when we were kids it was ground up worms in the fig newtons.," Annie reminded her.

"You are going to be back in time for Claire's birthday party on Sunday?" Danielle asked pausing by the door.

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world.," Annie replied. "Even got my favorite niece a special gift."

"I thought Chloe was your favorite?" Danielle asked with a smile.

"I just let each one think they are. Actually they're both my favorites," Annie confessed. She finished tossing a few last minute items into her carryon and zipped it closed..

"I'll remember that if you_ ever_ get married and have kids," Danielle said with a smile.

A knock on the guesthouse door interrupted their conversation. That must be Jai. He offered to take me to the airport. Can you tell him I'll be a just a minute?" Annie asked.

"Okay," her sister replied and went to answer the door. "Hello, Jai."

"Hello, Mrs. Brooks," the agent replied.

"Annie will be just a minute. Would you like to come in and wait for her?" Danielle invited.

"I'll just wait out here," Jai answered.

"Annie and I were discussing what our Thanksgiving plans were and I suggested that maybe you'd like to join us if you didn't have anything else going on that day," Danielle said making conversation.

"Thanks for the invitation. I'll think it over and let either Annie or you know," the young man replied.

"It's nothing fancy-just Annie, the girls, Michael and myself. And no brussell sprouts on the menu," Danielle added.

"I see my sister has been keeping you entertained," Annie commented as she appeared behind Danielle.

"Yes, she has.," Jai answered.

"Have fun in Kansas City," Danielle said watching Annie and Jai head for the car.

"Kansas City?" Jai asked holding the passenger door open for Annie.

"Well I had to tell her something. And they have a very nice art gallery. I visited it once a few years ago," the young woman replied. "Besides if she calls the _Smithsonian _line that's what Auggie will tell her."

"Your sister was inviting me to Thanksgiving dinner but she said there'd be no brussells sprouts," Jai said, sounding slightly puzzled.

Reaching for the radio dial Annie flicked it on letting the sounds of soft jazz fill the car as she replied. "Some boy in Chloe's class has her convinced they're alien brains. You know from _Little Green Men._"

Jai chuckled and said, "That would do it."

"I suppose you've done that yourself," Annie told him. She stared out the window. "I hope this time I get booked into business class."

"Well if not I think I can manage to pay to get you an upgrade to business class," he told her.


	3. The Plane Trip From Hell

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Bunnies are satisfied and this is the result. They do love reviews._

_Next update in a day or so. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Arriving at the airport both agents were pleased to find that whoever was responsible for booking the flights had made sure they got business class.

"Although first class would have been so much nicer," Annie commented as they made their way to the departure lounge.

"Why don't you suggest it to the travel division?" Jai replied. Pausing before one of the wall sized terminal maps, he quickly found the location of the nearest _Starbucks. "_Since we've got awhile to wait I'm gonna go grab a latté. Want me to get you anything?"

"A pumpkin spice one sounds good. Meanwhile I'll go find us a place to wait," the young woman told him.

"One pumpkin spice latté coming up. Your usual size?' Jai asked.

"Yep," Annie answered as she watched him turn and easily make his way through the crowds. Continuing her way to the departure lounge she found an small empty table and sank into the chair.

About ten minutes later Jai returned carrying a cup in each hand. "Sorry I took so long," he told Annie as he handed her the pumpkin spice. "Apparently I was the only one with that idea in mind." Taking a seat he took a sip of his own latté.

About twenty minutes later their flight was finally called and the agents grabbed their bags and headed for the boarding gate depositing their empty cups in a trashcan along the way.

On board the plane they quickly found their seats. "Which do you want? Aisle or window?" Jai asked, taking her carryon to put in the overhead bin along with his own and his jacket.

"Window sounds good," Annie replied, slipping into the seat. "Not that there's anything to see out of it anyway."

Settling into the aisle seat, Jai loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves preparing to make himself comfortable for the long flight. Pulling out their travel itinerary he looked it over mentally calculating the time difference. "Looks like a three hour layover in London," he told Annie.

"Think we'll have time enough to grab breakfast?" she asked fastening her seatbelt..

Just then the loud speakers came to life with the pilot announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, there will be a fifteen minute delay while the runway is cleared. Meanwhile the flight attendant will explain the emergency procedures."

It had been a long day and Annie was tired so despite her best plans to the contrary, halfway into their flight to London she found herself falling asleep on Jai's shoulder.

Feeling the sudden weight against his shoulder the young man set aside the magazine he'd been perusing and settled back careful not to disturb her.

Annie was awakened by a hand gently shaken her shoulder and Jai quietly saying, "Time to wake up. We're getting ready to land few minutes."

"How long was I asleep?" she asked sitting up and reaching to fasten her seatbelt.

He checked his watch and replied, "Almost four hours. And were you aware that you drool in your sleep?"

"I do not," Annie responded quickly.

"Trust me, you do," Jai replied with a chuckle.

The plane from London to Minsk was considerably smaller and more cramped. Settling into his seat Jai folded his arms and waited for the flight to be over. The only good thing about it was that it was considerably more shorter than their flight to London.

About an hour later without warning the plane suddenly began to shake as they hit rough turbulence, the result of a brewing thunderstorm. With both being seasoned travelers, they were somewhat more used to the turbulence but still they were left feeling slightly queasy and silently praying they'd be out of it soon.

Mike Foster mentally went over the information he'd been given about the arriving agents; Annie Walker and Jai Wilcox, traveling under the names _Angela Rigsby _and _Jai Nandin. Not too hard to identify _he'd been told. Seeing the passengers start to disembark he started forward toward the blonde woman who was accompanied by an East Indian man. "You must be Rigsby and Nandin," he said.

Annie looked up and smiled saying to her companion, "Look, Jai, I think our ride is here."

"Mike Foster. I've got a car waiting outside and when you get done here I'll drive you to the hotel where you can get squared away."

"I think we'd like to talk to the students first," Annie said,"

"That way we'll either know we can just go home or check it out further," Jai added.

"Arthur Campbell informed me that you two were in charge of this. I'm here provide any help you need," Mike said.

Once they'd gone though the procedure of collecting their baggage and getting their travel visas and passports checked, the two agents gratefully headed for the waiting car. With a yawn Jai sunk into the back seat and stretched his arms above his head. "Man, I'm glad we're finally here," he commented.

"Rough flight?" Mike asked getting behind the wheel of the car.

"Yeah. We ran into some rough turbulence about an hour out from London," Jai replied.

"You might call it _the plane trip from hell_," Annie added getting in beside Jai.

"Gotcha. Okay next stop is the Embassy," Mike replied as he pulled out into the traffic.


	4. The World's Most Confusing TV Series

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Hope & Cary, thanks for letting me kidnap you for the fic._

_Next update in a day or two. _

_Soon the action really begins._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

"Do you want to talk to the students together or separately?' Mike asked as he drove toward the Embassy.

"Separately would probably be better," Jai answered.

"That can be arranged. I might warn you they could be just a little bit cranky because they've had their phones and other internet accessible gadgets confiscated. Didn't want this whole thing ending up as their statuses on _Facebook," _Mike warned.

"Probably a _very_ good idea," Annie commented.

"What can you tell us about them?" Jai asked.

"Not a whole lot. They attend Midwestern universities although they're spending a semester here in Belarus. It was the weekend and they claim they were just there on a backpacking adventure," the older man replied.

"Sounds innocent enough," Annie commented. But they all knew in their line of work what appeared to be innocent was often the opposite.

The two college students were being housed in a rather comfortable three room suite that was surreptitiously being watched 24/7 by way of a closed circuit camera.

"Do they know they're being observed?" Annie asked.

"I don't think so. Anyway the camera is only in the main room of the suite. Let me introduce you to our reluctant guests," Mike replied opening the door.

"Didn't you ever hear about knocking first," a petite spiky haired blonde demanded.

"Ms. Bannister, these people would like to talk to you and Ms. Liang. Now if you'll just follow us," the agent said.

"Do we have a choice?" the blonde asked. She glanced at the petite Asian who had moved over to her side.

"No you don't," Annie answered.

"They're all yours," Mike said. "If you need me I'll be down in the office."

Ushering the girl into a small room with a only a desk and a few chairs, Jai motioned for her to have a seat as he took the one directly in front of her. "Now, Ms. Bannister, can tell me exactly what you were doing when you claim to have came across the weapons installation?" he asked pleasantly.

"Hope an' me were just hiking along minding our own business you know when suddenly there was this fence like about ten feet high. Inside the fence were these metal buildings and there were men patrolling around and taking in what looked like big metal drums," the student said rapidly.

"Was there some kind of a road leading up to it?" Jai asked.

"Looked like it. I told Hope "Oh wow, this looks kinda looks like something we'd see in _Lost." _She told me that we needed to get the hell out of here. So we snapped pictures and made tracks here to report what we saw," Carrie answered.

"Do you think you could pinpoint on this map exactly where you were at when you came across the installation?" the agent asked setting the map in front of her.

"I think it was pretty close to here," the student said and circled a spot on the map. She looked up at the agent. "Is that all?"

"I believe it is for now," he replied.

"Now when can we get out of here?" Carrie asked. "Not that this place is bad and all but Hope and I have classes to attend. I'm double majoring in _Psychology _and _Communications_."

"I'm sure the university has been informed that you'll not be attending for a few days," Jai answered.

The blonde sighed in frustration.

He picked up the map and headed for the door saying, "Someone will be in to escort you back to your rooms."

"Please have a seat, Ms. Liang," Annie said indicating a chair in a similarly furnished room.

The younger woman took a seat and calmly regarded Annie. "Since Carrie and I am being interviewed separately I take it you want to know how well our stories match up."

"Something like that," Annie replied.

Once the two girls had been returned to their rooms, the two agents sat down to compare what they'd been told. Annie set her map down on the desk and indicated the marks that was all identical to the other one. "They both had the same location," she pointed out.

"Looks like we need to investigate farther. Time to call Langley and let them know what we found out," Jai agreed.

"It's still pretty early back home," Annie pointed out as they headed for the .downstairs office.

Down in the office Mike saw them arrived and quickly got to his feet to make introductions. "This is the rest of my team-Dr. Nathan Marshall, Kelly Radclyff and Andrew Malone. Guys, meet Annie Walker and Jai Wilcox from Langley. They're in charge of getting a closer look at the weapons installation."

Jai shook hands with each one in turn before moving to an empty desk and asking, "Is it okay to set up shop here?".

"Go right ahead," Mike answered.

Sitting down at the desk the younger man quickly made contact with Langley and was transferred to the DPD.

"Hey, Auggie, can you get a rundown on a couple of names for me?" Jai asked.

"Sure. Go ahead. Who are you looking up?" the tech op replied.

"Our two college students. Okay, name number one is Carrie A Bannister. She's a junior at the _University of Missouri_ in Columbia," Jai replied flipped through his notes

"How do you spell that name?" Auggie asked.

"Carrie-C-A-R-R-I-E," Jai spelled out. "And the other name is Hope Liang-L-I-A-N-G. She's a junior at the _University of Kansas_ in Lawrence."

"And those two are friends?' Auggie commented as he typed in the names.

"What?" the other man asked sounding perplexed.

The tech op chuckled. "_MU_ and _KU_ are big rivals especially in sports. One of the guys I served with in Iraq went to school in Missouri and was always talking about the rivalry."

"Kinda like _Yale _and _Harvard. _I remember when there was a game coming up with _Harvard_ you didn't want to be caught dead wearing crimson," Jai replied.

Joan abruptly interrupted the conversation saying, "If you boys are done talking about sports, can we get on with the subject at hand?"

"I making a fast database search on both names and so far they come up clean. Not even a traffic ticket between the two of them," Auggie told the DPD director.

"Do think they're credible enough to require further verification?" Joan asked.

"I believe so," Annie answered. "Both seemed to pinpoint the location of the installation with near identical results. And neither of them had any reason to be making the whole story up. "

"Granted Ms. Liang I believe was a little less enthusiastic in her replies to our questions," Jai said dryly.

"All right. I'll have Foster give you whatever support you need," Joan told them.

"We'll head out first thing in the morning," Jai spoke up.

"Why the morning? Why not now?" the older woman demanded.

Jai wearily rubbed his forehead as he replied. "We need to get a hold of the most detailed maps of there area we can, plan out what we're doing. And get some definite sleep before we try and pull this off."

"All right," the DPD director agreed knowing the last thing she needed was sleep deprived agents running a possibly dangerous op.

"By the way, what exactly is _Lost_?" Jai was asking Auggie.

The tech op chuckled and replied, "Only the world's most confusing TV series. I caught a few episodes but it never made sense."

"That explains it. I never had much time for TV anyway," Jai answered.

"We'll be working on this from our end. From now on we'll expecting regular check- ins every six hours from you," Joan instructed.

"You have access to a computer.? I'll send you what I have so far," Auggie added.

"We've got access," Annie told him.


	5. Well Go Wake Up Sleeping Beauty

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Parts of this were written after midnight when sleep deprivation and silliness slipped in. Not responsible for that content._

_One of the names for Kansas City is 'City Of Foutains'._

_My bunnies like reviews. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Pushing back his chair, Mike looked at the two visitors and said, "I don't know about you two but I'm about ready to break for lunch."

"If you don't mind showing us where we're staying before you head for lunch," Annie said.

"Sure. Come with me," Mike told her getting to his feet. "There's an empty suite set aside in the residence wing. Nothing fancy, a couple of twin beds, bathroom kitchenette and desk/work area. I am guessing you don't mind sharing the accommodations'."

"I don't mind at all," Jai spoke up and at Annie's quick nudge to his ankle, he added, "Of course, I'll probably be asleep most of the time." Then as if to punctuate the point he gave a small yawn.

Annie snickered as she followed the two men to the door.

Reaching for a piece of paper in his pocket Mike pulled it out and handed it to Jai. "Here's my number if case you need anything," he explained.

"Thanks," the younger man replied slipping it into his pocket.

Leading the way to the residence wing, Mike stopped at the main desk to speak to the young woman on duty. "I need the keycards to suite 23E," he told her.

"Yes, sir," the young woman replied reaching into a drawer to withdraw them.

Taking the elevator up the couple of flights of stairs the older man came to a stop before one of several doors along the corridor and reached into his pocket for the keycards handing them over. "Here you are. I'll be back in about ten minutes to see if anyone wants go out for lunch or have it brought in," he said.

"Thanks for the offer but I think I'm just gonna grab some sleep," Jai told him.

The room looked comfortable enough as far as Annie was concerned. Setting her bag on the bed closest to the door, she watched as Jai immediately claimed the other one. Draping his jacket over the back of a chair he dropped his bag to the floor and sprawled face down on the bed without bothering to take off his shoes.

Shaking her head, Annie sat down on the edge of Jai's bed and proceeded to remove his shoes and socks. Leaving them on the floor she started to explore the suite, peering into the kitchenette, pleased to find it outfitted with a microwave and coffee maker. All the conveniences of home.

A knock on the door sounded and Annie went to answer it. "Hi, Mike."

"I wanted to make sure what you decided on lunch," Mike said.

"Give me a minute to grab my purse," Annie told him. Quickly slipping it over her shoulder she made sure she had her keycard before stepping out and locking the door behind her. "What have you got in mind?"

"If you like good old American style cuisine I know just the place," Mike told her. "There's a diner not far from the Embassy that's a favorite place for some of the staff."

"Sounds good. I can grab something to take back to Jai," the young woman replied.

"Can I ask you something?" Mike asked and at her nod, he continued. "I knew that the name _Wilcox_ was familiar. He wouldn't happen by any chance to be-"

Annie cut the agent off saying, "In answer to your question, _yes_, but don't go bringing it up around Jai. And please have your team reign in any curiosity."

"All right. Consider the subject closed," the other agent answered as he opened the door to the car.

"Good. We're here to get a job done and get back home. I'm supposed to be back by Sunday in time for my niece's birthday," Annie replied.

The diner was decorated in a passable 50's style motif equipped with even an non functioning and piped in music. The rest of Mike's team were already there in a large double booth looking over the menus. Kelly looked up from hers' to say, "Took you long enough to get here, Foster."

He sat down and snatched it from her. "That's cause I had to pick up our guest first," he said. "And in case you have an latent curiosity over our other guest, please keep it to yourselves."

They were interrupted as the waitress looking just like she's stepped out of the set of _Happy Days_ arrived pad in hand. "Are you ready to order?" she asked.

"Give me a few minutes, Lara," Mike replied.

Flipping open the menu Annie finally decided on a cheeseburger and fries and a _Coke__**. **_Giving the waitress he order she said, "I'd like a double order of the fries and a cheeseburger and double cheeseburger. One of the fries and the double cheeseburger is to be a take out order."

Returning to the suite Annie found Jai still asleep although he'd shifted position enough that he was now lying on his back. Moving past the bed she carried the take out box and a cup of soda into the kitchenette and stuck both in the refrigerator.

Since there was a few hours before they were to call Langley she decided that a nap might just be in order. Kicking off her shoes she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Annie had been lightly dozing when her phone rang and she reached to answer it saying, "Hello."

"Hey, Annie, how's it going so far?" Auggie asked.

"Well, I had lunch at a 50's style diner. And Jai is catching up on his sleep," Annie answered. She glanced at her watch. "It's not time for our check in yet."

"Joan wants to talk to you both. We finally got satellite confirmation on the installation," the tech op explained.

"Where's Jai?" the DPD director asked.

"Getting his beauty sleep," Annie replied.

"Well, go wake up _Sleeping Beauty,_" Joan snapped.

"Remember it took a kiss to do that," Auggie snickered.

Deciding that it was a good thing that the tech op wasn't within kicking distance of her shoe, Annie went over to the bed and leaned over it lightly shaking Jai's shoulder. "Come on, wakey, wakey time,' she said.

He groaned and rolled back over face down.

Not to be deterred the young woman decided more drastic methods were called for so she marched into the kitchenette and retrieved a couple of ice cubes from the refrigerator. Returning to the bed she deftly slipped them down the back of his neck.

The reaction was nearly instantaneous as Jai abruptly sat up clawing at the back of his shirt and demanding, "Why the hell did you do that for?"

"I needed to wake you up," Annie said sweetly and held out the phone. "Joan wants to talk to us."

Back at Langley Auggie was doing his best to keep from laughing as Joan observed, "I take it that whatever Annie did had the desired effect."

"She put ice down my back," Jai complained having successfully retrieved the cubes and flicked them into the wastebasket.

"We finally got satellite confirmation on the installation so we'll be transmitting the photos and the maps of the forest to you," Joan told the agents.

"We're going to need to secure some sort of 4 wheel drive vehicle," Jai told her.

"That's being arranged," the DPD director replied.

"Annie and I are probably going to head out just before daybreak since it's a fairly long drive ahead of us.," Jai said.

"All right. Next check will be in 6 hours," Joan told them.

"We should have everything ready by then," Annie said and hung up the phone.

Where'd you end up going for lunch?" Jai asked,

"A 50's style diner of all places. I did bring you back something and stuck it in the fridge. There's a soda with it or you can fix yourself some coffee," she answered.

"Thanks," he told her. "I think I'm going to grab a shower before I eat though." Getting to his feet he headed for the bathroom.

Sitting down at the desk Annie was surprised to hear her personal phone ringing. Quickly recognizing the caller ID she said, "Hey, Danielle.""

"Hey, Annie, I thought I'd call and see how your business is going," her sister said.

"It's going great. I should have it concluded in a couple of days," Annie answered.

"Hey, where are you at? I hear water running," Danielle said.

The younger woman thought fast before answering, "I'm outside near the fountains. Kansas City is also know for it's fountains."

"Well, I hear the girls calling so I'd better end this," Danielle told her. "Have fun and I'll see you Sunday."

"Give the girls hug and a kiss from me," Annie said and hung up her phone.

The sound of the shower shut off and Jai stuck his head out the door to say, "Hey, Annie, can you hand me my bag?"

"Sure," she replied and went to retrieve the bag from the floor.

"Thanks," the other agent said as the door opened wider to reveal he was wrapped in a towel another one draped around his shoulders. Reaching out a hand he grabbed the bag and closed the door.

Annie was trying to heat up the burger and fries when she saw Jai emerge from the bathroom. "I wasn't sure if you wanted lunch warmed up although I'm not sure if reheated fries are any better than cold," she said.

"Good enough. As soon as I eat I thought we could head back to Mike's office," he told her reaching for his soda.


	6. At Least It's A Nice Day For A Hike

_A/N First off all I do not own any claimm to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters. _

_Sorry for delay in posting. Had stuff going on keeping me from writing._

_The bunnies apaprently ran away with this chapter. They have been wanting to use a ceratin John Denver song in it._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

The rest of the day was spent with the agents mapping out their best way to get as close to the installation and readying what they felt they needed. After a quick meal in the Embassy cafeteria and one last call to Langley, they headed for bed planning to be before daybreak.

The sunrise had not yet began to paint the early morning sky when the 4 wheel drive truck was making it's way along the roads leading out of Minsk. Jai was behind the wheel while Annie dozed in the passenger seat beside him. At this time of the day the roads were devoid of any other vehicles.

About three hours later Jai decided that it was time to let Annie take over driving and reached out to wake her up.

Annie stirred slightly when she felt her shoulder being shaken slightly. Yawning and opening her eyes she mumbled, "Are we there yet?"

Jai chuckled and replied, "I thought you could drive for awhile. Just keep on the GPS heading and you shouldn't have any trouble."

"Wouldn't hurt to stretch my legs a bit," Annie decided. She watched as he steered the truck to a wide spot by the road. Hopping out she headed for a gap in the trees.

"Don't go too far," Jai told her. He grabbed climbed out and grabbed a bottle of water, leaning against the side of the vehicle to drink it.

"I'm not," came the reply.

His phone rang and he pulled it out checking the caller ID before answering it. "Hey, Auggie. What's going on?" he said.

"Joan wants an update," the tech op replied putting the phone on speaker.

"We're still on our way. Stopped right now to switch off driving and apparently a bathroom break," the other man answered.

"You're going to probably run into some sort of jamming equipment so call in as soon as you're in the clear," the DPD director instructed.

"Will do," Jai replied.

"Jai, you and Annie be careful," Joan added.

"You heard the Boss," Auggie chimed in.

"Don't worry, Auggie, I'll make sure Annie gets home safe and sound," Jai promised before shutting his phone.

"Your turn to stretch your legs," Annie said, emerging from the trees.

He was humming _On The Road Again_ as he climbed back into the truck and settled himself into the passenger seat.

Shaking her head in amusement and exasperation, Annie climbed behind the wheel and started the engine.

"What? You don't like my choice of song?" Jai asked after a moment.

"Pick something else besides _Willie Nelson_," she replied.

"How about this one?" he asked and began humming a _John Denver _song.

"That's kind of pretty. What is it called?" Annie asked after a moment.

Jai ducked his head slightly and replied, "_Annie's Song_ by John Denver."

Annie wasn't sure to think of _that_ choice of song. "I never knew you were a fan," she said.

"I had a boarding school roommate play _John Denver_ songs over and over until I could just about sing them," the young man replied and began to softly sing, "_You fill up my senses…Like a night in the forest…Like the mountains in springtime…"_

_He really does have a nice voice," _Annie thought as she listened to Jai finish the song.

It was around 12:00 local time when Annie pulled over and said, "I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

"What did we pack to eat on the way?' Jai asked.

"I thought you were in charge of lunch," she said. Suddenly spying the brown paper bag in the cooler, she pulled it out. "Trying to keep it all to yourself?"

"No, of course not," Jai quickly replied. Snatching the bag from her he pulled out a sandwich.

"How much longer till we get there?" Annie asked helping herself to one of the remaining sandwiches.

"About an hour or so. I think," he replied. "I'll finish driving."

They'd been on the road about an hour when ahead of them the road began to narrow into a single lane track that abruptly vanished into the forest. Not wanting to take the chance of going father and getting stuck Jai pulled over to the side of the road and parked the vehicle saying, "That's as far as we can go with the truck. According to what the students said, we have about another couple of miles to get to the location." He slipped the keys into his pocket

"At least it's a nice day for a hike," Annie commented as she got out an reached for one of the lightweight backpacks.

Making sure he had his weapon with him, Jai slipped on the other backpack saying, "You know the plan? Get in and get pictures and get out."

"And get on back to the Embassy," she added. "Lead on, McDuff."

When they were within sight of the installation the agents decided it would be best to leave their backpacks there and taking only what was necessary.

Keeping out of sight of the fence, the young man pulled out a pair of miniature high power binoculars and peered through them. After a minute he handed them over saying, "Here. Take a look."

"I see it. Don't really see any see about around the gate though," she commented

"Maybe we're lucky and they're all at lunch. You ready to get this over with?" Jai asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Annie replied handing back the binoculars and getting to her feet.

Approaching the installation the two agents carefully inspected the fence from a distance preferring some other way of entering than by the gate. Finally they spotted a place in the fence where the wire had pulled away from the posts. "Ladies first," Jai said, lifting the wire enough for Annie to crawl through and then followed her.

Making sure the miniature camera was set to take photos at regular intervals, Annie carefully got to her feet and followed Jai as he began to carefully edge his way over to the largest of the buildings which was had a huge pile of metal drums beside it.

"Too bad we don't have one of those tricorder things from _Star Trek. _Then we'd definitely know if there were anything in the drums," Annie whispered.

"That would definitely make it easier," Jai agreed. Motioning to her, he began to head back to where they'd entered the installation. She quickly snapped a couple of photos and draped the cord around her neck before silently following.

"So far so good," Jai commented as they reached the spot where they'd left the backpacks and slipped his on again. "As soon as we get a clear signal again we'll call Langley and give an update."

"I'll be glad when we get this turned over and can head back home.," Annie commented.

"No spending a day in Paris or London before heading back?" Jai asked.

"I have to home by Sunday. Plans I can't postpone," she answered smiling a little.

"What? You have a hot date?" he teased.

"It's my niece's birthday and I promised to be there," she retorted.

"I figure that we can probably make it back to Minsk late tonight and then catch the next London bound flight. That should get you back home in plenty of time for the party," Jai answered.

They'd only been heading back for a few miles when in the review mirror two heavy duty vehicles were spotted quickly following the truck.

"Damn! Looks like we've got company. Brace yourself," Jai instructed as he hit the gas pedal putting the truck into full speed.

Annie grasped the dashboard hanging on for dear life as Jai broke all safe speed limits trying to get away.

Suddenly rounding a bend he came upon a parked vehicle identical to those pursuing them. As he swung the truck to the very edge of the road in an attempt to squeeze past, shots rang out.

_A/N Now the action really begins. Next chapter in the process of being written so should be up soon. _


	7. We Need To Keep Moving

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_The bunnies have assured me that the John Denver song will return in a different fic with a different singer. You got to admit that song is soo Annie._

_Reviews make the bunnies happpy and keep them busy._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

The two well placed shots took the front tires out, bringing the truck to a sudden halt, the other two vehicles quickly moving in to surround them. That left the agents with only one course of action.

"We're going to have to make a run for it! Grab the gear while I lay down covering fire," Jai ordered reaching down to grab the gun just under the edge of his seat.

Annie nodded and reached for the backpacks and water bottles by her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jai getting into a defensive position, using the driver's side door for protection. Then cautiously opening her own she was out and running in a low crouch for the forest a few yards away.

Keeping between the door between himself and their pursuers, Jai was making every shot count in an attempt to keep them back . All that mattered was stalling long enough for Annie to get away with the pictures.

Suddenly one of the shots hit the truck and ricocheted off to penetrate Jai's left arm. The momentum slowing enough so that it stopped once it hit bone. Years of training kept him from acting on reflex to drop his weapon and clutch his arm. Still firing at the other vehicles he cautiously edged around the front of the truck toward the forest. Seeing a gap in the trees he sprinted forward and entered the gap.

Making his way among the trees Jai was hoping that he was following basically the same path that Annie had taken. Suddenly from behind he heard the sound of an explosion. Their vehicle had been set on fire putting an end of any possible thought of trying to fix the tires and heading back the way they'd came.

The ground was still damp from a recent rain and in his dash to escape the young man didn't see the protruding roots until it was too late. His foot caught one of the roots and he went tumbling to the ground in a puddle of mud landing hard on his wounded arm. Cursing in pain he got to his feet and stumbled on through the trees.

Up ahead Annie had came to a small clearing in the forest and sat down on a fallen log to catch her breath and wait for Jai to catch up. She didn't even want to think that he might not have gotten away.

Finally she heard footsteps and looked up with relief as she saw Jai stumble into the clearing. That relief quickly changed to worry when she saw the blood running down his left arm.

The adrenaline rush was wearing off leaving Jai feeling lightheaded and slightly sick, his arm throbbing with every beat of his heart. Reaching the log he sank down on it with a groan and rested his head in his hand.

Annie was searching through the backpacks hoping that they had remembered to pack a fist aid kit just in case. "How bad is it?' she asked.

"The bullet is still in there and blood loss could become a problem. Not to mention the fact that it hurts like hell," he said matter-of-factly without raising his head.

"Found it," Annie said pulling out the first aid kit and opening it. "Let's get your jacket off so I can take a look at your arm."

Jai nodded and raised his head using his uninjured arm to unzip the lightweight jacket he was wearing. Gritting his teeth against the pain he carefully eased his arm out of the sleeve.

Annie had removed a pair of scissors from the first aid kit and used them to cut away the shirt sleeve getting a good look at the bullet wound. It was covered in a mixture of blood and mud. Reaching for a bottle of water and several gauze pads she said, "I'm afraid that this is going to hurt."

"Can't hurt any worse than it already is," came the reply.

Poring some water on the arm she used the gauze to try and clean the wound the best she could. Setting aside the pads she reached for a couple of more and the antiseptic. Pouring the antiseptic onto the pads she pressed them against the wound hoping that it would prevent any possible infection from the mud.

"I was wrong-it does hurt worse," Jai muttered.

Removing the antiseptic pads Annie finally placed a clean one over the wound and said, "Can you keep pressure on this while I get a bandage out?"

He nodded and placed his fingers over the pad pressing down.

A roll of gauze in hand, she carefully removed his hand as she began tightly wrapping his forearm. After securing the bandage in place she sat back and took a good look at his face, worried at his appearance. He was paler than she'd ever seen him be and his face was damp with sweat.

"You're going to need some sort of sling for your arm," Annie was saying as she unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out a colorful scarf. A sudden movement beside her caused her to look up to see Jai stumble over to some trees a few yards away. Bracing himself against the tree he bent over retching.

Waiting until he returned to the log she silently handed him a bottle of water which he silently accepted. "Are you okay?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah. Just give me couple of minutes first," Jai replied.

"I'll help you on with the jacket and then I can tie rig up a sling," Annie said busying herself with combining the contents of both backpacks into one.

"Thanks," Jai said quietly.

"I'd better call Mike and let him know what happened." Reaching for her phone, her fingers encountered an empty pocket. "Oh no," she said in dismay.

"What is it?" Jai asked.

"My phone…I must have lost it when I was escaping," she replied.

"Try mine. It should be in my jacket," he answered.

She pulled it out and flipped it open trying in vain to pick up a signal to call for help. "Nothing. We must still be too close to the installation yet to get a clear signal."

He took the phone and pocketed it saying, "We'd better get moving then."

"We could go back to the truck and fix the tires," Annie suggested.

"Don't bother. They torched the truck," Jai said flatly. "We need to keep moving. According to the map there's a road the other side of the forest. When we get a clear signal we call in and let everybody know which way we're headed." With Annie's help he got to his feet and watched as she slipped on the backpack.

Then together they slowly started making their way through the trees in what they hoped was the right direction.


	8. It's From All The Walking

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Next update should be soon. Had to do a minor rewrite involving the time difference between Langley and Belarus._

_Reviews keep the bunnies happy and co-opearing._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

They'd been walking for about two hours when Annie decided that it was time to take a break. Finding another small clearing she pulled off the backpack and sat down on the ground leaning back against a fallen tree. Reaching into the backpack she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it over to Jai who'd sat down beside her being careful of his wounded arm.

"Thanks," the young man said. He looked from the bottle to Annie. "Could you please remove the cap?"

"Oh, sorry," she said, immediately taking it an removing the cap. Handing it back to Jai she dug around in the backpack again.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"There should be some packets of pain meds in the first aid kit. Should have thought of this sooner," Annie replied. She found what she was looking for and tore open the foil packet into his hand. "These should help a little."

"You should try calling Mike again," Jai suggested after a few minutes.

Removing the phone from where she'd zipped it in her pocket, she flipped it open and quickly dialed Mike's number and frowned when she got no response, not even a dial tone. "Either we're still in the jamming radius or something is wrong with your phone," she announced.

"There shouldn't be. Unless it happened when I landed in the mud," Jai replied.

"So we can't let anybody know where we're headed?" the young woman asked.

"Unfortunately we can't. Once they realize something's happened there'll be someone out looking for us. Meanwhile our best bet is to keep heading for the road," Jai replied. "It's what we'd probably be expected to do once they find the truck."

"You ready to start moving again?" Annie asked after they'd sat for a few more minutes.

"Yeah. Don't have any other choice," Jai responded. Placing a hand on her shoulder he carefully and slowly got to his feet.

"We're going to need to find someplace to spend the night," Annie stated after they'd been walking for awhile. It's probably going to get dark soon."

"Next clearing we come to we'll stop unless we have to do so sooner," Jai agreed.

About an hour later they found what they decided would have to suffice for the night. The ground was fairly level and clear enough to lay down on and a fallen log was off to one side. "I guess this is the place," Annie announced pulling off the backpack and setting it aside.

With a groan Jai sank down on the ground and leaned back against the log glad to just sit down. The pain in his arm had been joined by a throbbing headache and all he wanted to do was just have someone put him out of his misery.

"You have a pocket knife?" the young woman asked suddenly.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a _swiss army knife_. "What do you have in mind?"

"I thought I could find enough wood to start a small fire. It's going to be chilly tonight," Annie explained.

"Sounds like a good idea except that that I see no source of water to put it out with. Besides we forgot the marshmallows," Jai added, making a feeble attempt at humor.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," she conceded handing back the knife and sitting down beside him staring down at her hands.

"It's understandable. There's been a lot going on," he said quietly and reached to take her hand. "Including practicing your first aid skills on me which I do appreciate."

"Which reminds me. Before it gets dark I want to check your arm and replace the bandage," Annie decided. Positioning herself by his left side she started to untie the scarf and instead on impulse reached a hand out to touch his forehead. "You're feeling a little too warm".

"It's from all the walking," Jai told her as he unzipped his jacket.

She wasn't buying his explanation but let is pass. After untying the scarf she carefully eased Jai's arm out of the sleeve and was alarmed to see that blood had seeped through the bandage and it appeared to be tighter than when she'd wrapped it. Picking up the scissors she started to cut it off saying, " I'm sorry this is going to hurt."

"Just get it…over with," Jai told her.

Removing the bandage and pads she could definitely see the signs of infection, the swollen hot skin around the wound and a barely perceptible unpleasant order. Carefully placing a clean pad over the wound she began to wrap the gauze around his arm keeping it looser than she had before. "This should be better," she said closing the first aid kit.

Jai knew she'd been as gentle as she could but the pain in his arm was making him feel a little sick. Taking several deep breaths he closed his eyes waiting for the feeling to pass.

"You okay?" Annie asked softly laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Just give me a few minutes," he replied.

She opened one of the water bottles and put it in his hand. Then getting to her feet she began to take a closer inspection of the clearing.

After a few minutes the nausea seemed to pass and Jai decided he'd better chance trying to eat something. Looking up at Annie, he asked, "Is there anything to eat in the backpack?"

"Yes, there is I wish it was something better than those trail mix granola bars you like so well," she answered.

"Well, since we're not likely to run into a _McDonalds _out here, you might as well hand me one of the trail mix bars," Jai told her.

"Feeling better?" the young woman asked tossing one of the bars into his lap. Grabbing one for herself she sat down beside him.

"A little," Jai answered.

As soon as she finished eating Annie began busying herself gathering up fallen leaves and spreading them on the ground. At Jai's questioning glance, she explained, "Just trying to make it a little more comfortable to sleep on than bare ground." That task done, she pulled on the plastic sheet from the backpack and spread it over the leaves.

"Before you go to bed, hand me the flashlight," he told her. As he spoke he was removing his weapon from the holster.

""You need the sleep too," Annie reminded him.

"One of us needs to keep watch that nothing unexpected happen. I'll take the first one," Jai said, leaning back against the log, his weapon and flashlight by his side.

"Okay. Just wake me up in a few hours," Annie reluctantly told him.

"Goodnight, Annie."

"Goodnight, Jai," she said and suddenly giggled. "We sound like _The Waltons_." Sighing she settled herself on the ground and closed her eyes.

"Go to sleep, Annie," Jai told her. With a sigh he shifted slightly trying to find a more comfortable position. He'd been doing his best to not let on how bad his situation was but now he was beginning to wonder how much longer he'd be able to keep on heading through the forest.


	9. We're Going To Find Them, Auggie

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters. _

_Next update a day or so. Thanks to all hanging in and reading. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Back at the Embassy Mike was beginning to feel that something was wrong. He knew Annie and Jai should've made it back to Minsk or at the very least called in if they were being delayed. Turning around in his chair he looked over to Nate who'd been monitoring communications asking, "Any word from Walker or Wilcox?"

"Not a word. They should've called in once they got out of jamming range," the other man replied.

Mike sighed and said, " Put in a call to Joan Campbell at Langley. I hate like hell to have to tell her that her agents are apparently MIA."

"I'm glad I'm not the one," the younger man replied making the phone call. "This is Mike Foster from the Eastern European Field Station. It's important that I speak with Director Joan Campbell right away."

"I'll put you through right away," the communications tech replied switching the call to Joan's office.

"All yours, Mike," the other man said handing over the phone.

"Mike Foster on line three," Joan's assistant said over the intercom.

"Put him through in a minute," the DPD director instructed quickly placing a call to Auggie.

"What is it, Joan?" he asked answering the phone.

"I need you in my office right away," she replied hanging up and turning back to her assistant. "You can put him through now."

"Director Campbell will speak to you now," the assistant said to Mike.

"Somehow I have the feeling I'm not going to like what you have to say, Agent Foster," Joan said, answering the phone.

"Agents Walker and Wilcox haven't returned from the forest and none of us have heard from them. By now thy should have gone in and got out of the installation. Even if there was a communications jamming system in place they should be out of range by now," Mike explained.

"That's not like either of them not to check in unless something went wrong," the DPD director commented putting the phone to speaker.

"What's going on?" Auggie asked as soon as he immediately entered the office.

"Jai and Annie. They haven't made it back to the Embassy and nobody's heard from them," Joan explained before turning back to Mike, "Gather your team together and see if you can pick up their trail."

Auggie spoke up, "Did their vehicle have GPS tracker?"

"I believe it does," Mike replied pulling up the information on the computer. "I'll transmit you the tracking data. It looks like it just stops about 6 hours ago."

"Stops? Like the vehicle hasn't moved?" Joan asked.

"No. Like it just disappears," the agent replied. He ran through the GPS data and said, "There's a brief stop about four hours in-"

"Probably when I called Jai and he said they had stopped to switch drivers," Auggie interrupted.

"Then another brief one later one. Last stop is considerably longer and when they go off the grid is they're starting to head back toward the Embassy," Mike continued.

"All right. We can reasonably assume that they got into the installation and got out and were on their way back," Joan said.

"If they'd simply broken down I'm sure they'd have called in by now," Mike said thoughtfully.

"I know. Look, I'm going to authorize you to use what ever resources you need to find my agents," the DPD director stated. "And keep me updated." Ending the call she turned to Auggie. "Please do not say it."

"Say what?" the tech op asked although he had a good idea what she meant.

"We're going to find them, Auggie," Joan said firmly and turned to place a call to Arthur.

Hanging up the phone, Mike turned to his fellow agent and said, "Better pack your medical kit, Nate. I have a feeling it just might be needed."

"That's what I'm afraid of," the other man said reaching for the phone to call Kelly and Andrew.


	10. The World's Most Underrated Analgesic

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_The 'First kiss' is borrowed from Beth-Geek Chick with permission._

_I planned to get this up sooner but my computer was hijacked by my sister when she stayed over and I had to work yesterday._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Annie had been sleeping restlessly when she was awakened by the sound of Jai getting sick. Sitting up she could see in the dimness that he was leaning over the fallen log. Reaching for the nearly empty water bottle, she got to her feet and made her way over to him.

Collapsed over the log the painful retching finally easing up Jai stayed where he was trying to summon enough energy to make it back to where he'd been sitting.

"Jai?' Annie said softly as she handed him the water.

"I didn't wake you up did?" he asked taking a cautious sip from the bottle.

"You did, kinda," she replied softly her hand reaching out to touch his forehead alarmed at how hot it was. "You're burning up."

He sighed and answered "The infection is getting worse. Can't do anything about it though."

Glancing at her watch she saw it was 2:30 and the realization dawned on her. "You weren't even going to wake me up were you?' she demanded.

"You needed _your_ sleep," Jai answered.

"And you didn't? Damn it, Jai! I already lost Ben! I'm not ready to lose you too!" Annie yelled finally giving into her worry and frustration.

"You're not going to lose me," he said quietly.

"Am I? You're wounded and sick and we're stuck here in this godforsaken forest!" she demanded.

He awkwardly reached up a hand to place it on her shoulder as she sat crying. "Don't…" he said softly.

After a minute Annie reached up to rub her face briskly and "Now that I'm awake, _I'll _keep watch the rest of the night. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Jai replied. He watched as she went to gather up the discarded weapon and flashlight.

Seating herself on the ground beside him she sat staring into the distance.

With a groan Jai shifted position and lay wishing the pain would ease up enough so that he actually could get some much needed sleep.

"Still can't sleep?" Annie asked softly.

Jai sighed and answered, "Not really…Hurts too much."

"I'd give you some pain meds but I doubt you'll be able to keep them down long enough for them to do any good," she told him.

"Probably not," he agreed.

"Why don't you just talk to me so _I'll_ stay awake," Annie suggested.

"What about?" Jai asked.

"Oh anything. I do know what you could and you can stop me if you think it's too personal. How about what you'd be doing if you weren't with the CIA?" Annie suggested.

"It's okay. But if tell you mine you've got to tell me yours," he answered.

"Agreed," Annie said. "But you go first."

"You're not going to back out like you did with that first kiss thing you sprung on us one night?" Jai asked smiling slightly.

"Not this time. And honestly my contact did show up then," she said lightly.

"Okay," he replied and was silent for a few minutes while he thought. "I think that if I wasn't in the CIA I might have been become a doctor like my mother. But my career choice was pretty much taken out of my hands."

"What kind of doctor would you have then?" Annie asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe a neurosurgeon, maybe not. Probably leave that to Mom. She's actually done very well for herself since the divorce. Gives lectures at various hospitals a few times a year," he answered.

"Do you get to see her very often?" Annie asked.

"Not as often as I'd like," Jai replied. He looked up at her. "Your turn."

"Okay. I think if I wasn't in the CIA I think I'd definitely be doing something with my language skills. Maybe working as a translator or a teacher. "Sometimes I think the only reason the CIA wanted me was because of Ben Mercer," she said.

"You know that's not true. Otherwise they could have easily let you go after Sri Lanka," Jai pointed out.

"How come you decided to stick around Langley after we got back from Sri Lanka?" Annie asked him.

"I decided that I liked the people I work with and well, Arthur Campbell can be _very _persuasive," the young man answered.

"I'm glad you decided to stay," Annie said softly. Drawing her knees up she sat with her arms wrapped around them staring at the forest lost in thought.

"You've been quiet for awhile. What are you thinking about?" Jai finally asked .

"Hmm. How much we could use tequila right now," Annie answered.

"Why tequila?" he asked sounding puzzled.

"About four years ago I was sitting in a Baltimore tavern and met up with this doctor. Somehow we got to talking about alcohol and the subject turned to tequila. As I recall he called it _the world's most underrated analgesic_," she replied smiling at the memory.

"Too bad we forgot to add a bottle to our provisions. It would go good about now," Jai commented.

"Do you think you can manage to keep down the pain meds if I give you any?" Annie asked after a minute.

"I think so. Can't hurt any to try," he answered.

"Okay. But try and warn me if think you're going to throw up," she said, reaching for the backpack and retrieving the foil packet. Shaking the contents into his palm she watched as he cautiously swallowed them followed by a sip of the water.

"So far so good," Jai said after a few minutes. He lay back and closed his eyes finally falling to a restless sleep.

Annie sat keeping vigil until daylight when she reluctantly awakened Jai so they could try and be on their way.

_A/N Was anybody paying attention about the tequila quote? First person to name show, who said it and who the actor was wins a small part in a future fic._


	11. They Picked Up Their Trail

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Nobody wanted to try and figure out my little guessing game? Give you a clue. The person who said it now stars on Covert Affairs._

_Ian Edgerton belongs to the talented creators of Numb3rs._

_Happy Thanksgiving._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Kelly was the first to arrive back at the office. Seeing Mike busily going over a list of GPS co-ordinates she asked, "What's going on?"

"Walker and Wilcox never made it back and no one has heard anything. I want you to put in calls in calls to Dave Jaken and Matt Kenzie. I'm going to need them on this," Mike instructed mentioning the security men who often worked with the agents.

"I'm on it," she replied.

"Nate caught me just before I was about to spend a couple of hours online line talking to Mandy. Please tell me you didn't call me in because we're going to be heading out somewhere," Andrew commented as he strolled in.

"Agents Walker and Wilcox are apparently MIA and Langley has authorized me to head up a search team. I've called in Matt and Dave to join us," the senior agent answered.

About half an hour later the security personnel showed up and Mike quickly briefed them. "The two agents from Langley never made it back here and no one has heard from them. I've been ordered to head up a search team and I want you both on it. We leave in an hour to fly to the nearest airport to their last location and head out from there."

Kelly had in the meantime been making several strategically place phone calls. Hanging up from the last one, she swiveled her chair around a look of triumph on her face. "There will be a vehicle waiting for you at the airport when you arrive," she announced.

"Good. You guys grab your travel bags and meet back here," Mike told the security men.

The flight from Minsk was uneventful and it was still dark when the search team landed at the small airport . After stowing their gear in the vehicle they were on the road trying to pick up the trail of the other agents.

The sun had barely been up very long when Mike and his team were nearing the last GPS reading on the missing agents' vehicle. The fact that the GPS signal just disappeared was in itself troubling and they needed to find out what happened. "Should be just up ahead," the senior agent told the others.

"GPS says this is where the signal for their vehicle disappeared," Andrew reported.

Rounding the bend they could see the reason why as they came upon the charred remains of the truck. "Oh damn. We got to make sure. Andy, can you see if you can locate the VIN number if it wasn't obliterated," the senior agent instructed.

The younger man nodded and pulling on a pair of rubber gloves went to work. After a minute he found that it was still there although faint and quickly read it off.

"That's it. Matt, you and Andy search the surrounding area and see if you find anything. The rest of us will check out the remains of the truck," Mike instructed.

Ten minutes later it was evident that the individual searches had turned up nothing and the men regrouped by their vehicle to plan out their next move.

"No sign of any bodies so that leaves us with two likely options; either they were captured or managed to escape. For now we go with option number two and see if we can find which way they headed,"

Dave Jaken spoke up, "Looks like they could have escaped to the woods. If they left a trail I can pick it up."

Mike looked at the ex-FBI agent and asked, "You sure?"

"Trust me-I can. I learned from one of the best trackers in the Bureau-Ian Edgerton."

"Dave, you're the lead then and the rest of us will follow.

He hadn't gone very far when Dave stopped and knelt down to pick up an object from the path. "Found this," he announced holding up the cell phone.

Mike took the phone and quickly looked it over checking the list of calls noting that a few were from a DC area number. "It appears to be the phone Walker had. Looks like we're on the right path," he said, slipping it into his pocket.

"I wonder how far ahead of us they are," Andrew commented.

"Hard telling," the senior agent answered making his way forward.

"They definitely stopped here," Dave said when they reached the first clearing. He picked up the discarded back pack and turned it over in his hands. "Apparently someone is doing all the carrying."

Andrew had been closely inspecting the clearing and he bent down to pick up one of the discarded gauze pads. "One of them appears to be injured," he said handing it over to Nate.

Mike wandered over to ask, "Can you tell how bad?"

The physician shook his head and replied. "There's definitely some blood but I can't tell how much."

"Dave, can you pick up on which way they were headed?" the senior agent asked turning to the tracker.

"It looks like they headed east. My guess is they were trying to cover enough distance before the sun went down," the ex-FBI agent replied.

"Makes sense. Trying to make it to the road on the other side of the forest. We know Walker lost her phone but not sure why they couldn't use the other one to call the Embassy or Langley," Andrew spoke up as they headed on their way.

The five men had been walking about an hour with Mike periodically checking his phone. "Finally I'm getting a signal. "You guys might as stop to rest a minute while I update Langley," he told the others. Putting in the call he waited while he was connected to the DPD director.

"It's about time we heard from you, Agent Foster. Have you found out anything yet?" Joan stated sounding harsher than she intended.

"We located the last place the GPS signal was and found out why it went off the grid. The truck had been set on fire," Mike explained.

Joan paused for minute before asking, "Was there any sign of my agents?"

"The vehicle was empty and Dave Jaken picked up the trail where they entered the forest. At least one of them appears to be hurt but Nate couldn't determine how bad," Mike replied.

The relief Joan felt at the news that Annie and Jai had gotten away was tempered by the news that at least one of them was in need of medical attention. "Keep me updated, Agent Foster," she instructed.

"I will as soon as we know anything," Mike replied.

Auggie had been listening into what he could of the conversation. Hearing Joan end the call he asked, ""What's going on?"

She turned to face him and replied, "Mike and his team found out why the GPS signal ended-the truck had been set on fire. Annie and Jai apparently made it into the forest. They've picked up their trail."

"And?" the tech op asked knowing that there was more.

"One of them is hurt although not sure how bad it is," Joan answered. "Nor which one is hurt either."

_I hope it's not Annie_ immediately flashed through Auggie's mind and he wisely kept that thought to himself. He didn't want anything to have happened to Jai either but he felt a certain protectiveness toward Annie. "Let me know when you find out anything new," he told the DPD director.

"Get some rest, Auggie. It maybe a while," Joan replied looking at the young man noticing how tired he looked.

"I'll rest when they find them," the tech op said firmly. Without another word he turned and headed for his office.

It was evident when the search team located the clearing that Jai and Annie had spent the night in. There were more discarded bloody bandage pieces and an empty water bottle.

"What is it, Nate?" Mike asked seeing the worried expression on the younger man's face .

"It's not good. Looks like whoever is injured is still bleeding," Nate answered shifting the duffel bag to his other shoulder.

"As soon as we catch up to them we'll determine which way is closet to a road and have a med-flight waiting in case it's needed," the senior agent replied.

"Are you going to update Langley?" Nate asked after a minute.

"Not until we know anything more. Meanwhile we'll take a twenty minute break to eat lunch and rest before we head on our way," Mike told him. "They can't be that far ahead of us by now"

Several hours later Dave stopped before a gap in the trees and waited for the others to join him. "I think we've finally caught up to them. I can faintly hear a voice," he said.

"I'll take the lead now," Mike told him.

The ex-FBI nodded and stepped back knowing that it would be better that there was someone somewhat familiar to make the approach not knowing what they'd find.


	12. Tell Auggie I'm Sorry

___A/N First of all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around with the characters_

___Due to an insanely crazy week I'm finally getting the next chapter up. Sorry about the delay._

___Next update maybe in a few days as I will be gone from my computer all day tomorrow._

___Thanks to all still reading._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Daybreak was starting to paint the sky with the first streaks of light when Annie got up from where she'd been sitting and went to awaken Jai. He was actually sleeping somewhat peacefully and she was reluctant to wake him up. But the sooner they got back on their way the sooner she hoped that they'd reach a road. Maybe then he would get the medical attention he so desperately needed.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she said softly, "Wake up, Jai. We need to get moving."

He groaned as he slowly moved from his stiff position on the ground. "Give me minute," he said pushing himself to a sitting position.

Annie knelt by his side ready to offer him a hand if he needed it. "Take your time." she said watching as he slowly gained his feet.

For the past two hours they had making their way slowly forward. Jai was in the lead his steps becoming increasingly more unsteady and Annie followed close by ready to stop if he did.

"Can't go…any farther," Jai said as his legs suddenly gave out and he collapsed toward the ground landing hard enough to send waves of pain through his wounded arm.

"Jai!" she exclaimed moving forward as he struck the ground. She knelt beside him as he lay there eyes closed his breathing ragged and his pulse racing. "Jai?"

After what seemed a long time his eyes finally opened and he struggled to sit up, pausing as he felt the nausea returning. With a moan he slumped back on the ground

"Are you all right?" Annie asked worriedly as he'd been out long enough to have her concerned that he may have suffered a head injury.

"Depends on your definition of _all right," _Jai responded. Looking at her concerned expression he added, "I'm not experiencing anything different than I was before I collapsed."

"I'm not sure if that's encouraging or not," she replied.

"I think this is as far as I'm going," the young man admitted.

"Let's rest here for awhile and see if you can go on a little more," Annie said encouragingly.

They sat in silence for an hour each lost in their own thoughts. Annie was becoming increasingly concerned that they'd have to rely on the rescue team to find them and Jai was preparing himself for a decision that he'd eventually have to make.

About an hour later Annie looked over to him and softly asked, "Do you think you can try and get up again?"

"I don't know. You're going to have to help me up," he replied.

With her help Jai managed to get to his feet only to start to go down again. Annie was quick to catch him and carefully lower him to ground. Kneeling by his side, she made sure his wounded arm was laying on his chest before sitting down beside him.

"Tell Auggie I'm sorry," Jai said softly.

"For what?" she asked.

"That I couldn't bring you back safe and sound like I promised," the young man replied.

"You can tell him yourself," Annie replied. She reached a gentle hand to brush the damp hair away from his forehead.

Jai suddenly reached a hand out to grab her wrist holding onto it tightly. "You still need to get the pictures and intel back to Langley. It's obvious that I can't go any farther…You have to keep on going."

"I-I just _can't_ leave you," she stammered.

"You'll _have_ to. We're out of food and water. The longer you wait the longer it will take you," the young man said.

Annie knew he was right but she just couldn't bring herself to go on and leave him alone. "I will-in the morning. I'm just not sure I can find my way in the dark.," she answered.

"Promise me you'll leave as soon as it's daybreak," he insisted.

"I promise," she said softly.

"And promise me you'll send someone back to get me," he continued.

"I promise," she repeated unable to keep back the tears as she realized the implications of his statement.

Jai reached a hand up to gently wipe the tears of her cheek. "It's okay, Annie. I always knew that this was always a possibility in our line of work. I just feel sorry for whoever gets the unwelcome task of informing my father." he said softly.

"That would be Joan or most likely Arthur," she answered.

"You know I think my mother would really have liked you…" His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes and his hand fell limply to the ground.

"Jai?" Annie said and quickly reached to touch his neck. Relief flooded over her as she felt the weak beat under her fingers.

"I'm still here," he mumbled without opening his eyes.

"Just stay with me," she told him quietly maneuvering herself so he was leaning against her with his head in her lap.

He was beginning to shiver as the chills set in along with the fever and she draped her jacket over him as he lay there.

Jai looked up at her with the ghost of a smile and asked, "Isn't the man supposed to be the one giving up their coat?"

"Who says a woman can't be chivalrous if she wants to be?" Annie asked lightly.

"I think I understand now why Ben Mercer fell in love with you. You're beautiful…smart …funny…," his voice trailed off.

"Now tell me something I don't know," Annie said lightly in an attempt to humor him.

"That I knew who you were even before Auggie introduced us," Jai replied.

"You did?" she asked in surprise.

"You didn't think that the CIA wouldn't have wanted to know exactly who Ben was hooking up with. For all we knew you could have been some foreign agent sent to derail his op," the young man answered. "Besides you're a person who's not so easy to forget."

"I guess I should take that as a compliment," Annie commented smiling gently stroked his forehead as his eyes closed.

Several hours passed with Jai drifting in and out of consciousness. Annie stayed by his side talking to him and feeling for the second time as helpless as she'd ever been in her life. Hearing the sound of footsteps she tightened her grip on the gun and stared toward the gap in the trees seeing the most welcome sight in the world.


	13. They Found Them

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters. _

_Sorry about the delay. Blame it on Life._

_Next update to be soon._

_Thanks to all my readers. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

"Mike! Thank God you're here!" Annie exclaimed grateful to see that help had finally arrived.

"What happened?" Nate asked as he dropped the duffle bag on the ground beside Jai and knelt by his side pulling on gloves to do a quick assessment of the other man's condition.

"He was shot trying to escape. The bullet is still in his arm. I did what I could but it got infected," Annie replied the worry evident in her voice. "He's been in and out of consciousness for the past several hours now."

"Pulse is 110...respirations shallow…temperature at least 103...," the doctor was saying as he reached into his kit and pulled out a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.

"How is he?" Mike was asking.

"Not good. We're going to need a copter waiting for us when we get to the road." the doctor replied. "He's obviously in shock. Hand me an IV kit. The one with the large bore needle."

"He's been in a lot of pain," the young woman told Nate as she carefully moved a few feet from where she'd been sitting.

Mike reached into the duffle bag and pulled out the requested IV. "Anything else you need me to do?" he asked.

"Get the stretcher and the blanket ready," the doctor instructed. Opening the kit he swabbed an area on Jai's arm and expertly inserted the needle making sure the fluid was flowing through the tubing at a rapid rate.

"I'll get that copter called," the lead agent said moving away a few feet to make the call. After a few minutes he shut finished their phone call. "The ETA on the copter is going to be about 4 hours. Once they find a landing site they'll send the GPS co-ordinates."

Quickly selecting a vial from the kit Nate drew the contents into a syringe and injected it into Jai. Looking at Annie, he explained, "Morphine. I don't dare give him very much in case it affects his respiratory function. But this should take the edge off his pain-make him more comfortable."

Jai's eyes slowly flickered open and he moaned in pain. Annie was immediately at his side her hand on his forehead speaking softly. "I know it hurts. The doctor just gave you some painkillers so it should ease up soon."

"Hope…so," he whispered as his eyes closed again, his facial features relaxing slightly as the morphine took effect.

Annie slowly got to her feet and stood unsteadily as the exhaustion she'd been fighting suddenly settled over her. Dave was quickly at her side asking, "Are you all right?"

"Mike, can you take care of her?" Nate asked as he continued working on stabilizing Jai's condition the best that he could. He decided to wait until they were on the way to Minsk before taking a look at the bullet wound. Nothing could really be done until they got the wounded man to a hospital to remove the bullet and clean out the infection.

The senior agent reached into his backpack and withdrew a bottle of water a protein bar which he handed to Annie. "Take this while I call Langley and give them an update," he told her and then stepped away a few feet to make the phone call.

"Mike Foster on line four," Joan's assistant suddenly announced into the stillness of the office where the DPD director, Arthur and Auggie were all awaiting word on the missing agents.

She quickly picked up the phone asking, "Anything new to report, Agent Foster?"

"We found them," Mike replied.

"How are they?" Joan asked putting the phone on speaker.

"Walker appears to be okay but Wilcox is in really bad shape with an infected gunshot wound. There's going to be a medical evac copter waiting when we get to the road," Mike answered.

"Keep me updated on Agent Wilcox and I'll make sure his emergency contact is informed," Joan replied ending the call.

"Which one of us gets to contact Henry Wilcox?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not even sure that's who Jai listed. I'll get his file and check," Joan replied.

It didn't take long to have Jai lying on the stretcher, the blanket covering him. After making sure that Jai's wounded arm was carefully immobilized the doctor stepped aside satisfied that his patient was ready to be transported.

"We'll start walking and switch off carrying the stretcher. I need to have someone make sure the IV bag is flowing okay while we walk," Nate instructed. He handed it to Matt and picked up the duffle bag.

With Dave in the lead they headed on their way knowing that time could be running out for the wounded agent.

_A/N The "tequila" quote is from an episode of Medical Investigation entitled "Mission La Roca (part 1)" and was spoken by Dr. Miles McCabe. If anybody wants to be "kidnapped" for a bit part in a fic PM me. _


	14. We Need That Copter Now

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Sorry this took me so long to update. Hopefully next chapters should be up sooner. _

_Plot bunnies are running away with it again but things will start to get better soon for Jai._

_Thanks to all who are still reading. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

It was several hours of slow going as they made their way through the forest headed for the road. Finally coming to stop by a fairly narrow road, they lowered the stretcher to the ground and Nate knelt beside it making a quick assessment of Jai's condition. The wounded man had been unconscious for the duration of the trip and although his blood pressure was holding steady his temperature was continuing to rise.

Putting away his medical equipment the doctor muttered, "We need that copter _now_."

"I'll check and see how close it is," Mike volunteered pulling out his phone and quickly dialing a number. After a minute he put the phone away. "It's about twenty minutes away and they have located a landing spot two miles east of here."

Andy and Matt picked up the stretcher and they started out again with a renewed sense of urgency. By the time they reached the landing spot the helicopter had arrived and was waiting.

"let's get him on board and be on our way as fast as we can," Nate instructed.

Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out Annie's phone handing it over to her. "You apparently dropped this," he said.

"Thanks," Annie replied. She glanced over to where Jai was hastily being loaded onto the helicopter.

"Give me the pictures and intel and I'll make sure they get transmitted to Langley," Mike instructed.

"All right," the young woman replied handing over the camera.

"Turning to Nate the senior agent said, "The rest of us should be back in Minsk in before daybreak. What hospital are you heading to?"

"The _Hospital International_ in Minsk. It's the best equipped to handle someone in critical condition," the doctor replied.

"Give me an update when you know something and update Langley," Mike instructed.

"You're coming with us," Nate stated looking to Annie. It wasn't a suggestion he wanted to make sure she got checked out and treated for possible dehydration.

The young woman silently climbed aboard and sank down in a empty seat, strapping herself in her eyes on the doctor and medical personnel as they worked on Jai.

"I want to get him started on the strongest broad spectrum antibiotic you have. We'll worry about any adverse side effects later," Nate instructed. As he was speaking he was checking Jai's pulse and blood pressure, satisfied that the fluids the wounded man had been given was keeping it from getting any lower.

The flight medic quickly rummaged in her kit and pulled out a premature syringe which she injected into the IV. Then pulling the notepad that the doctor had been making notations on, she wrote down the medication and dosage.

Taking a pair of scissors, the doctor made short work of cutting through the jacket sleeve to expose the bandage. After carefully removing it he carefully examined the swollen red wound which was still draining a mixture of blood and a yellowish fluid. "Hand me the antiseptic to try and clean this," he told the medic.

After what seemed like forever the helicopter finally arrived in Minsk and began to change direction as it made for the hospital.

The hospital had been informed of their incoming patient because a doctor and medical team were standing by with a gurney as soon as the helicopter landed. "What have you got?" the doctor asked as the wounded man was quickly transferred to the gurney.

"Infected gunshot wound-the bullet is still his arm. Last check twenty minutes ago his blood pressure was 72 on palpation, pulse 120 and a temperature of 103.6," Nate replied.

"There's a surgical team on standby," the _Emergency_ doctor told the agent.

"Good. We'll need that. Who's the surgeon?" Nate asked.

"Dr. Martina Kovach. She's one of the best we have on staff," the other doctor replied.

"Okay. Get him prepped and I'm going to scrub in and observe. I just got to go talk to someone for a minute," the agent replied.

"I'll let Dr. Kovach know," the other doctor replied.

Nate turned to Annie who had followed them into the building. Taking her by the hand he led her over to a chair and said, "They're taking him to surgery right now. I'm going to observe and then I'll come talk to you. Someone can show you where to go wait." Giving her an encouraging pat on the shoulder he turned and headed for the elevator.

Inside the operating room Dr. Kovach expertly removed the bullet and set about to clean the wound of as much infection as she could making sure that samples were being taken so that the lab could possibly narrow down the infectious agent. Due to the serious of her patient's condition, there was a very real possibility that it had already entered into his bloodstream. Finally satisfied that she had done the best she could, the surgeon left her assistant to finish up and stepped out of the room talking quietly to Nate. "Do you want to inform his friend or shall I do it?" she asked.

"I can do it," the agent replied.

Dr. Kovach nodded and went to check her pager seeing that she had a recent call to the _Emergency_ department. Quickly removing her surgical gown she headed for the elevator.

Deciding that it was a good enough time as any to give the DPD director an update Nate headed for a secluded area to put in a quick call to Langley.

"Director Campbell, Dr. Marshall is on line three," Joan's assistant announced.

"Put him through," the DPD director instructed picking up the phone. "this is Director Campbell."

"Director, I was calling to give you an update on Agent Wilcox. He just got out of surgery a few minutes ago and being moved to the _Critical Care Unit._ We were able to remove the bullet. There appears to be no nerve or muscle damage. However the main concern is the infection that developed in the wound. We have him on high dose IV antibiotics and closely monitoring his condition," Nate told her.

"Thank you. Please keep me updated," Joan told him and ended the call.

Replacing the phone in his pocket Nate went to talk to Annie. Finding her still in the surgical waiting area, he slowly approached.

Looking up at the other agent, Annie couldn't help but notice that he looked about as tired as she felt. "Jai?" she asked hesitantly.

Nate laid a hand on her shoulder and replied. "He's out of surgery and will be moved to the _Critical Care Unit_ where he can be closely monitored."

"Can I see him?" the young woman asked.

"In a little bit. We still need to get him moved and settled in. I'll make sure someone shows you where to wait." The doctor promised.

Twenty minutes later Jai had been settled into a bed in _Critical Care_ and was hooked up to a series monitors that were closely tracking any change in his condition. Leaving his patient to the care of a nurse, the doctor had taken a few minutes to grab a quick drink and update Jai's chart.

The nurse hurried over to Nate saying, "Dr. Marshall, Mr. Nandin is beginning to wake up and is becoming extremely agitated."

Nate shook his head and headed for the wounded agent's cubicle.

Jai was moving his head restlessly back and forth, his eyes closed. "Annie…" he tried to call out a note of panic in his voice.

Frowning at the monitor readings that registered his patient's distress, the doctor quickly moved to the bedside and placed his hand on Jai's arm saying, "I'll have someone get her. But you _need_ to calm down."

"Do you want me to sedate him?" The nurse asked.

"No. Let's hold off on doing that for the time being. Please go get Ms. Rigsby and another dose of his pain medication," Nate answered.

The nurse nodded and silently left the room. She quickly prepared the syringes and then went to find Annie.

Annie was sitting all alone in a corner of the waiting room when she heard footsteps approaching. Getting to her feet she asked, "How's Jai doing?"

"Mr. Nandin is asking for you. Please come with me," the nurse replied.

"He's awake?" Annie asked deciding to take it as a hopeful sign. She hurried after the nurse.

Entering the room the agent was quickly pulled aside by Nate who said quietly, "He's been very agitated and getting upset is the very last thing he needs right now. I think that seeing and talking with you will calm him down enough to rest."

After injecting the morphine into the IV the nurse stepped aside to let Annie approach the bed.

Leaning over the bed Annie lightly placed a hand on Jai's forehead and her other one gripped his right hand. "Come on, Jai, open your eyes and look at me," she coaxed.

Her cool hand felt so refreshing on his burning skin and her voice was like music to his ears. Slowly his eyelids flickered and he opened his eyes to stare into her warm brown ones, the worry she felt reflected in them. A tear slipped from his eyes and slid down his face.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm safe…you're safe. You just need to rest and get better, okay," Annie said softly and squeezed his hand.

Jai slowly nodded as his eyes closed again.

Nate motioned silently to the nurse who removed the second syringe from her pocket and injected the contents into the IV.

As soon Annie was that Jai appeared to be sleeping somewhat peacefully she turned to the doctor and asked, "Is Jai really going to be all right?"

"Ask me again in about twenty-four hours and I may have a more definitive answer for you," Nate replied. "He is getting the best care available here."

"Can I stay here for awhile?" Annie asked after a moment.

"He's going to be asleep for some time. And when was the last time _you_ got some sleep?" the agent asked.

"I got a little last night," Annie admitted.

"I want you to get some rest and nutrients. Now you can either go back to the Embassy or stay here. I made sure there's a room set aside for you and someone will bring you a light meal. And I'll make sure that you're kept informed on his condition." Nate told her.

"All right," Annie reluctantly replied. As much as she wanted to be with her friend, she knew there was nothing she could really do and sooner or later exhaustion was going to get the best of her anyway.

_A/N I thought it made sense that Jai would be admitted to the hospital under the alias he was carrying._


	15. Annie, Do You Know What Time It Is?

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Sorry it took a little longer than I planned to get the chapter pulled together. _

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Nate quietly led Annie out of the _Critical Care Unit_ and down the hallway to a small room at the end and opened the door. "This is actually a little used isolation room but you can stay here for awhile. There's a shower and some pajamas to change into and I'll have someone bring you some soup and crackers in a little while," the doctor explained.

"Thank you," Annie replied glad that she could easily find her way back to Jai's room.

Nate gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze and said, "Remember he's getting the best care available."

"I know," the young woman said softly.

"I'm going home to get some sleep and check in with Mike and the others. You get some sleep yourself," the other agent said stifling a yawn.

"Thanks again for everything," Annie replied. She watched the other agent head for the door. Once it had closed behind Nate, she headed for the bathroom to clean up.

The shower felt wonderful after wearing the same clothes for nearly two days and Annie slowly dried off before pulling on the hospital pajamas. She had barely gotten dressed when she heard the door opening.

A young woman in a nurse's uniform stood with a tray in her hands. "Dr. Marshall requested this be taken to you," she said.

"Thank you," Annie replied. Spying a bedside table she set the tray on it and climbed into bed to eat. As soon as she was finished she pushed the table aside and lay down falling asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

When she finally awakened Annie felt better, the exhaustion almost gone. Looking around the room she spotted her baggage and realized someone had brought it over from the Embassy. Quickly slipping out of bed she went to change into clean clothes and go check on Jai.

Inside the room a nurse was tending to Jai, wiping his face with a dampened cloth. Looking over at Annie she said, "He's had a rough night."

"Is he doing any better?" Annie asked quietly.

The nurse silently shook her head as she dropped the cloth into the basin and picked it up to get some more cool water. "You can stay for a few minutes."

Jai was moving about restlessly in bed mumbling a mixture of English and what Annie assumed was Hindi since he was fluent in both languages. She moved over to the side of the bed and took his hand in hers saying softly, "Jai, you need to fight this and get better. I can't lose you too."

The nurse returned saying, "I need you to step out of the room for a bit while I take care of Mr. Nandin."

"All right," the young woman answered. Giving Jai's hand a squeeze she replaced it on the bed and turned to leave the room. With no place to really be and no desire to return to the Embassy, she headed back to her room.

Although she'd never found a cause to use the phone number before, Annie still carried the card with her everywhere. Now sitting alone with an overwhelming need to talk to someone she reached into her wallet and pulled out the small card. Taking out her phone she began to dial the numbers.

Auggie was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing and quickly grabbed it saying, "Hello?"

"Auggie?" Annie replied

"Annie, do you know what time it is?" Auggie asked still somewhat sleepily.

Looking at her watch she did a quick realization and said, "Oh no. Did I wake you?"

She sounded on the verge of tears and the tech op quickly replied, "No it's all right. How is Jai doing?"

"Not good. He hasn't started responding to the antibiotics they're giving him. I am so worried about him," Annie admitted.

"Hey, you know Jai's gonna make it. Just have to stay positive. Trust me," Auggie replied.

"_You_ weren't there with him. He wanted me to go get the pictures and intel back to Langley and just leave him behind," she said quietly. "I-I couldn't leave him behind."

Auggie could certainly think of a lot more better subjects to talk about at 4:00am than Jai Wilcox but he understood why she was calling. "I doubt it was a an easy decision for him," Auggie replied. As he was speaking he'd gotten out of bed and headed for the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. "Hang on a second, will ya?"

"Okay," Annie replied.

"Back. I was just fixing some coffee. I have the feeling I'm really going to need it today," Auggie said as soon he had the coffee brewing.

"I really am sorry I woke you up-" the young woman began.

"It's all right. Now what is that quote from one of the _Star Trek_ movies?" Auggie wondered.

"I don't know. I never was a fan of the show," the young woman replied.

"You missed out on so much. Ah, got it," the tech op said suddenly remembering. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annie asked sounding confused.

"Putting a stop to a possible terrorist attack on the United States was more important to Jai than saving his own life. He pretty much only acts on protocol or orders. In fact you're one of the few people who doesn't outrank him that can persuade him into a different course of action," Auggie explained.

"How did you know that?" she asked surprised.

"Jai cares for you, Annie. In fact you were the man reason he took off on his own for Sri Lanka," the tech op answered.

"Yeah, I kinda got the impression it was," the young woman said.

"Look, now that I'm awake I might as get around and go in early. And now that you've used this number you now owe me one sandwich," Auggie reminded her.

Annie laughed and replied, "When I get home I will gladly treat you to the very best sandwich in the DC area. Hey, thanks for talking and listening. I know Jai isn't exactly you favorite conversation subject."

"No, not really. You know if I could I'd give you a much needed hug. Just hang in there and keep thinking positive," Auggie answered.

"I'll do that. Thanks again for everything," the young woman replied and hung up her phone.


	16. Jai's Not Like Him At All

_A/N First of all I do own any claim to Covert Affairs I just like to play around with the characters._

_Now that Jai is on the road to recovery the story should move along rather quickly._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Annie had waited until a more reasonable hour to call Joan and ask if anybody had gotten in touch with Jai's family.

"Arthur left messages with Henry Wilcox but we can't seem to get in touch with his mother. The phone number we have for her is no longer in service," the DPD director explained.

"She could have changed it and Jai never got around to having the correction made in his file," Annie said thoughtfully. "I'll call Nate Marshall and see what the hospital did with Jai's belongings."

"How is Jai doing?" Joan asked.

"Not very well. He hasn't started responding to the antibiotics the doctors have him on," the younger woman said slowly.

"Keep me informed. Meanwhile I'll keep trying to contact his family," Joan replied.

"I'll let you know as soon as I know anything," Annie promised hanging up her phone.

During the next twenty-four hours Jai's condition continued to worsen as he fought for his life. Annie had been spending as much time as possible at the hospital. Returning from a hastily grabbed meal she saw that his room was filled with medical personnel and she feared that the worst was happening. Taking up a position some distance down the hallway she huddled there waiting for news.

Finally the door opened and Nate stepped out looking exhausted a worried expression on his face. Moving from her position Annie hesitantly approached him and asked, "Jai?"

"Annie, his temperature spiked to 104.8° but we've got him stabilized for now. If he doesn't start to respond to the medication soon there's the possibility he isn't going to make it," Nate said quietly leading her to a chair in the waiting area. "Have anybody been able to get in touch with his family?"

"We're still trying. His father either isn't aware or doesn't care and we can't locate his mother," Annie replied.

"I was at Langley when Henry Wilcox was in charge. He may have been my superior but I took an instant dislike to the man. I take it the son is nothing like the father," the doctor commented.

"Jai's not like him at all," Annie confirmed.

"I'll let you know if there's any change," the other agent promised heading for the cafeteria to get some much needed coffee.

That appeared to be the turning point as Jai's condition slowly and steadily began to improve, the antibiotics finally taking effect. He was spending most of his time asleep and Annie was glad to be able to give Langley some good news for once.

Returning to Jai's room after a much less hasty meal she saw Nate stepping out closing the door behind him. The agent had a satisfied expression on his face as he approached.

"He's still doing better?" Annie asked no longer apprehensive at the answer to her inquiry.

"Yes. His temperature is down to 102.5° and he should be waking up soon," the doctor said.

"That's the best news I've heard in a long time. Is it okay if I stay with him awhile?" Annie asked.

"I don't see why not and it might do him good to see you when he wakes up," Nate answered.

Exhausted Annie had finally fallen asleep at Jai's bedside her hand clutching his. She awakened to hear a weak voice saying, "Annie? Annie…wake up," and a hand gently squeezing hers.

She raised her head and smiled saying, "Hey, you're finally awake. And making sense."

And I…wasn't before?" Jai asked looking confused.

"Jai, you've pretty much been out of it these past three days. For awhile we were afraid we were going to lose you. How are you feeling?" Annie asked getting to her feet and moving to the head of the bed.

"Thirsty," he replied.

The young woman quickly reached for the pitcher of water and poured some into a glass, inserting a straw. "Can you sit up enough to drink?" she asked.

He nodded and pushed himself into a slightly raised position and Annie quickly adjusted the pillows. Handing him the glass she watched as he took several sips.

After a minute he handed it back asking, "What day is it?" his voice sounding stronger.

"It's Tuesday," Annie replied.

"I thought you had to be home by Sunday. Why did you stay?" he asked after a moment.

"I had to make sure you were going to be all right. Anyway there's a special transport plane ready to take you home as soon as your doctors say you're fit enough to travel. I think the plan is that you be admitted to a hospital there. I just as well go home on that flight," The young woman explained.

"Is your sister mad?" Jai asked.

"Kinda. I broke a promise to Claire and she also doesn't understand what's so important for me to stay longer. I couldn't exactly tell her I was waiting to find out if a very good friend was going to live or die," Annie said bitterly.

"I'm sorry," he replied after a minute.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Annie reminded him and then got down to what she really needed to talk to him about. "Jai, nobody's been able to contact your mother. Do you know if she has a new number?" Annie asked.

"She changed it recently. Claimed she was getting a lot of harassing phone calls and thinks Henry may be behind it," Jai answered. "Knowing him I just wouldn't be surprised."

"Do you know her number?" Annie asked.

"Give me something to write it on and I'll give it to you. But do me a favor. Please don't call her until I'm back in the States. I don't want her to come all the way here just to find I've left. Anyway she emailed me her travel itinerary and if I recall correctly she should be at the _Georgetown University_ _Hospital_ about this time," Jai answered.

Reaching into her purse the young woman pulled out a notepad and pen placing them in his hand. "I'll at least call Langley and let them know you're doing better. We've all been worried about you-even Auggie," she said.

Jai raised an eyebrow at the mention of the tech op's name but there was a faint smile on his face. Writing down the phone number, he handed the notepad back to Annie. The conversation had tired him and he settled back against the pillows about ready to fall asleep again.

She gave his shoulder a slight squeeze and said "I'll leave you to get some rest." Giving him one last look she headed for the door.


	17. Jai's Going Home?

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Sorry to be late in posting this but there have been numerous delays in real life._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

Thursday morning Annie sat watching Jai as he half heartedly attempted to eat the breakfast he'd been given. Finally he pushed away the barely touched tray and leaned back against the pillows his hand resting lightly on his stomach.

"You okay?" she asked.

He shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure if it's the food or the medication but I'm feeling a little sick right now."

"Maybe you'll find the food in DC more to your liking," Nate said as he entered the room.

"Jai's going home?" Annie asked.

"There's a transport plane due to leave in three hours and arrangements have been made to have you admitted to _Georgetown University Hospital_ for further treatment and observation," the doctor told Jai.

"Didn't you say that's where you said your mother is right now?" Annie asked Jai.

"I believe so, " the young man replied looking a little bit happier at the prospect of seeing his mother again.

"Did I hear you say you were feeling nauseated?" Nate asked.

"A little," Jai admitted.

"I'll order something for the nausea. The _only_ reason you're getting released right now is that I think you'll recover better once you're back home," the doctor pointed out.

"Do you think you can bring me my clothes so I can get dressed? I don't exactly want to be wearing this when I go home," Jai stated indicating the hospital gown.

"Your belongings are still back at the embassy and someone will get them on the flight. Meanwhile I think we can find something appropriate for you to wear home. And by the way, I'll be accompanying you on the flight," Nate replied heading for the door. "Someone will be in with your nausea meds in a few minutes."

"I'd better get my stuff packed up," Annie decided getting to her feet. "See you later, Jai."

Two hours later Jai was sitting on the bed fully dressed in a in a pair of sweat pants and sweat shirt. "What is taking so long?" he asked and not for the first time.

"Patience, Jai, patience," Annie told him although she was as impatient as he was to be on their way.

Finally Nate entered followed by a nurse who was pushing a wheelchair. "Ready to be on your way?" the doctor asked.

"Been ready," Jai replied. He peered at the wheelchair. "I don't need that."

"Well, you're going to get it. Last time we had you on your feet you were still pretty unsteady," Nate replied.

"You don't want to take the chance of falling on your face and delay going home, do you?" Annie asked. She smiled as her friend shook his head and sat down in the wheel chair.

"As soon as I turn in your discharge paperwork, I have an embassy car waiting outside and we'll be on the way to the airport," the doctor said grasping the handle of the wheelchair.

Outside the hospital entrance the car was indeed waiting with Mike at the wheel. "Good to see you again, Agent Wilcox," he said getting out to open the backseat door and help Nate get Jai settle in and ready for the trip to the airport.

"Feeling okay?" the door asked as he prepared to shut the door.

"I'm okay," Jai replied.

"It was decided that you weren't in bad enough shape anymore for a medical transport and not ready for a 12 hour regular flight back to DC so we found something more comfortable to travel on," Nate explained as they headed for the airport.

The transport plane actually turned out to be a privately owned mini jet. Pulling the vehicle as close as he could Mike asked, "Is this the right one?"

"It's the right one," Nate confirmed climbing out of the vehicle and opening the passenger door. "I'll see you in a couple of days."

"You got the list?" Mike asked opening the trunk.

The doctor patted his pocket. "Right here. Not sure if I'll have time to find everything but I'll try," Nate told the senior agent. He was reached in the trunk and pulled out the agents' baggage as well as his own. "Get the wheelchair, will you?"

On board the jet they were greeted by a pretty red haired young woman who was casually dressed in slacks and long sleeved shirt. "Welcome aboard. I'm Jamie Davis," she said introducing herself

"Are you the flight attendant?" Jai asked looking up at her.

"Flight attendant/medic. Come on, let's get you settled in so we can take off," she replied smiling at him.

"Do I get a window seat," the young man asked.

She smiled and said, "Since you'll probably be lying down most of the flight so I doubt you'll want it." Together she and Nate helped Jai through a curtained off area of the cabin leaving Annie alone.

Behind the curtain was a seat that had been stretched out to a barely reclining position with a pillow on it. "I take it this is where I'm to travel," Jai commented.

"You got it. It really is quite comfortable as well," Jamie replied. "As soon as you get settled in I'll bring you something to drink if you want it."

"Got any beer?" Jai asked although he knew he definitely wouldn't get one.

"Nice try. I can get you coffee, tea, bottled water, varied soft drinks and juices. I can even whip up a pretty good latte in the galley," the young woman replied.

"Latte sounds really good. Haven't had a good one since before we got here," Jai said.

"I'll fix it for you once we take off," she promised glancing over at Nate. "That is _if_ your doctor approves."

"Go ahead. I'll go tell the pilot we'll be ready to take off in ten minutes," the agent replied.

Annie was looking around the jet's cabin when she heard Nate return. Turning to the other agent she asked ,"So how much is this costing to fly back to DC?"

"Not a penny. The jet and all expenses are being donated by a grateful US citizen who likes his anonymity. Jamie's actually in his employ and when the need for a flight came up I called her to see if she could secure use of one of the jets," Nate explained.

"I'm not even going to ask how you came up with these kind of connections," Annie stated.

"Well, it helps that Jamie is my cousin and she is a fully trained EMT although that's not exactly her main vocation," Nate explained as he walked over to the small refrigerator and removed a beer. "You want one? Might as well enjoy the flight home."

"Maybe later," Annie replied.

"All right," he replied and went to talk to the pilot.

Once the jet was airborne Jamie headed for the galley saying to the doctor, "Talk to you for a minute."

"Sure," he said getting up and following her to the galley.

"What do you want me to keep an eye out for?" the young woman asked as she busied herself with the latte.

"That his temperature don't spike. He was on IV antibiotics at the hospital for awhile and isn't really tolerating the oral ones. Instead of having him nauseated and uncomfortable for the flight I decided to stop dosage until we get to the hospital in DC," the doctor explained.

"Got it," she replied.

"He should sleep most of the flight and if he wakes up try and get him to drink something besides a latte," the agent added.

Jai fell asleep not too long into the flight and Jamie him with a light blanket and dimmed the lights slightly. Leaving the agent alone she went to join the others.

"Asleep?" Nate asked when he saw her step around the curtain.

She nodded going to get herself a soda and a bag of chips from the galley.

Annie had finally given into sleep herself reclining in her seat when she felt her shoulder being shaken and Nate saying, "We're about to land."

"What time is it?" she mumbled sitting up.

"Minsk time or DC time? DC time is about 5:30 in the afternoon," he answered and went to wake up his patient.

As soon as the jet landed Jai was quickly taken off and loaded into a transport van for the trip to the hospital. Giving his hand a squeeze," Annie said, "Take care and I'll see you tomorrow or the next day."

"Thanks for everything you done for me," he replied squeezing her hand back.

_A/N Next chapter introduces the ex Mrs. Henry wilcox._


	18. What Happened To My Son?

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_Just a few more chapters left to write._

_Have a Happy New Year everybody._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

By the time they arrived at the hospital it was evident that Jai's temperature was beginning to spike. As the he was being wheeled into the elevator, he looked up at the other agent and requested, "Could you please let my mother know I'm here?"

"I can do that. What's your mother's name?" Nate asked Jai.

"Dr. Amari Johar. She doesn't go by Wilcox anymore," he replied.

"I'll go call her while you get settled into your room," Nate promised. "Your friend already gave me her number."

His patient nodded his and wearily closed his eyes.

Leaving Jai in the care of a couple of nurses the doctor stepped out into the hallway and quickly dialed the number Annie had given him getting a voicemail message in return.

"Dr. Johar, I'm Dr. Nathan Marshall. Your son requested that you be informed that he's just been admitted to _Georgetown University Hospital_ and in room 413," the agent said, leaving a message. Slipping his phone back in his pocket he headed to check on Jai.

Inside the room Jai was back in a hospital gown an IV in his hand and a young nurse was checking his vital signs. Looking up from jotting down the BP reading she said, "I was just about to check his temperature."

"That's what I really need to know," Nate said watching the nurse insert the thermometer into her patient's ear and listen for the beep.

"His temperature is 102.4°," the nurse reported.

"Spiking too much. Let's get him back on the IV antibiotics and see if it knocks this out," the doctor instructed. He glanced down at his patient who was moving about restlessly. Shaking his head slightly he wondered if temporarily halting the meds hadn't been such a good idea after all. "Stay with him and I'll be right back." he quickly headed out to get the medication.

Returning with the IV antibiotics he quickly hooked it up to the other IV and said, "I want his temperature checked every two hours and call me if there's any change. I'm going to stay here awhile with him until his mother arrives."

The nurse nodded and left the room.

Sometime later Jai slowly opened his eyes seeing a shadowy figure in the chair by the bed he softly asked, "Mom?"

"I called her but she isn't here yet," the doctor said.

"What-what time is it?" Jai asked.

Nate glanced at the clock on the wall and replied "7:34."

"Evening?" Jai asked and at the other agent's nod he continued. "She may have a lecture about this time."

"I'm going to check your temperature and give you something to help you sleep. I'm sure when you wake up again she'll be here," Nate said reaching for the thermometer and inserting it. When it beeped he removed it and frowned out at the reading.

Catching sight of the doctor's expression, Jai asked, "Not good?"

"Your temperature is continuing to rise. I shouldn't have stopped your meds during the flight home. If there's no improvement by morning I'm going to try something else," Nate replied. He patted his patient's arm. "We're going to get this infection beat somehow.'

"Hope so," Jai mumbled closing his eyes, the fever and the brief conversation quickly exhausting him.

Reaching for the call button the doctor quietly summoned the nurse and when she arrived he explained, "There's an order in his chart for sleeping meds. Please bring the dosage."

The nurse quickly left to get the required medication. Returning she injected it into the IV and stepped back.

"can you stay with him until he falls asleep? I'm going to see about calling his mother again," Nate instructed. Stepping out by the nurses' station he repeated his call again and then sat down in a chair to wait for awhile to see if the ex Mrs. Henry Wilcox showed up, being fairly certain that once she got her messages she would. Or at least he hoped so for her son's sake.

The elevator doors swept open and a diminutive Indian woman strode out. Looking at her it was definite as to which side of the family Wilcox resembled. Getting to his feet Nate moved forward asking, "Dr. Johar?"

Jai's mother stood barely 5'2" but carried herself with an air of authority. Clad in a navy blue and gold sari, she held out her hand saying. "I'm Dr. Amari Johar. Thank you for calling me."

"Dr. Nathan Marshall," Nate introduced himself.

"Are you Jai's doctor?" the woman asked.

"One of them. I treated him before he was transferred here," the agent explained.

Amari frowned saying, "I don't understand why I wasn't called earlier."

"As I understand attempts were made to contact you and when we finally got your number your son said not to call you until he got back to the DC area," Nate explained leading the way to Jai's room.

Entering the room the woman cast a brief glance at the several monitors and before moving to the side of the bed. Her sharp eyes took in her son's flushed face and the arm bandaged and secured in a sling.

Leaving mother and son alone the doctor said, "I'll be back in a few minutes," and left the room.

After a few minutes Amari reached out a gentle hand and brushed the damp curls off her son's forehead concerned at how hot he was. "Oh, Jaiya," she said softly using the name she'd called him when he was little.

"He's getting the best care available Dr. Johar," Nate said as he entered the room a takeout cup in his hand.

"What happened to my son?" Amari asked looking at the sling.

"All I can tell you is that he's been battling a very severe infection but is getting better," the agent replied holding out the cup. "I thought you could use some tea."

"Thank you," Amari replied.

"It's up to your son to tell you anything else," Nate continued.

"He won't. He's like his father. Always keeping secrets from me," the woman stated.

"I'm going to head out now and get some rest. The hospital knows to call me if I'm needed. Goodnight, Dr. Johar," the agent said.

"Goodnight," Amari replied, her attention on her son worried that he was so sick.

The young man moved about restlessly crying out softly in his sleep. His mother reached out a hand rubbing his shoulder and saying quietly, "It's okay, Jaiya, it's okay." her gentle words and touch still worked their magic for he slowly stilled sliding into a deeper sleep.

Throughout the night Amari stayed by the side of the bed moving only when nurses came into to tend to him, checking and charting his temperature.

Jai slowly opened his eyes to see the concerned expression of his mother as she looked down at him. "Mom?" he asked, his voice weak.

"Yes, it's me, Jaiya. How do you feel?" Amari asked.

The young men smiled slightly at the use of the old familiar name. "You haven't called me that…in years," he said.

Placing her hand on his forehead the woman smiled and announced, "Your fever is getting better."

"Always the doctor?" Jai asked.

Amari patted his hand and said "I'll go tell _your_ doctor that you're awake." She got to her feet and moved gracefully toward the door.

Nate had just returned to the hospital to check on Jai when he saw Dr. Johar emerge from the room. Noting the weariness on her face the agent asked, "Have you been here all night?"

"Of course. Where else should I have been?" she responded. "I was coming to tell you that Jai is awake and his fever is down."

"That's good to hear," Nate said following her back into the room.

"Yes, very good," the woman agreed.

Moving over to the bed the doctor quickly checked his patient's temperature saying, "It's down to 101.7°. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," Jai replied.

"Now that's a good sign. I'll go see about finding something you can tolerate. In the meanwhile I think I'm leaving you in very capable hands," Nate replied and headed for the door.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed my protrayal of Jai's mother. Maybe sometime we'll get to see her on the show._


	19. No, I Got That Trait from You

_A/N First off all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around the characters._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

It had been a typical day back at Langley and Annie had been trying to catch up on what had transpired during her nearly week and half long absence. As she worked she couldn't help but occasionally glance over at the conspicuously empty desk near hers' and wonder when it's occupant would be back. Finally deciding she could pick up on everything come Monday morning she shut down her computer and prepared to leave.

Footsteps behind her drew the young woman's attention to Auggie who was standing by her chair. "Want to go join the Saturday night crowd at _Allen's Tavern_?" he asked.

"Not tonight. I had something else in mind," Annie answered.

"Going to visit Jai?" the other agent successfully guessed.

"Yeah. Hopefully he's doing better by now," Annie replied and came to a sudden decision. "Hey, Auggie, want to go with me to visit Jai? I'll even buy us both supper when we get done. Get you that sandwich I owe you."

"I guess so. Has anybody heard how he's doing?" Auggie replied.

"I know he was still sick when we got home two days ago," the young woman said reaching for her jacket.

"I'll bet you by now he's charmed every pretty nurse into waiting on him hand and foot," Auggie told her as they headed for Annie's car.

"Probably," she agreed.

Arriving at the Jai's room Annie saw that the door was standing half open so she poked her head in the doorway. Catching sight of the small woman in a white lab coat she hesitantly asked, "Is it alright to come on in? I brought Auggie with me."

"The more the merrier? Come on in," Jai responded.

Opening the door wider Annie could see the woman as she turned away from the bed the family resemblance to Jai unmistakable. "Told you I'd be by to see you," Annie said stepping into the room with Auggie beside her.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet my friends Annie Walker and Auggie Anderson," Jai said making introductions. "This is my mother Dr. Amari Johar."

Amari took Annie's hands in her own and said, "Jai has told me what you did for him. Thank you for that."

Feeling embarrassed the young woman replied, "It was the least I could do."

Turning her attention to Auggie Amari asked, "Do you also work with Jai?"

"Kind of," the tech op replied.

Moving over to the bed Annie gave Jai a quick embrace relieved to see him finally looking like his usual self. "Glad to see you doing better. Been behaving yourself?" she teased.

"I bet the nurses have all been fighting over who gets to take care of you," Auggie added.

"Not really," the young man replied. Pointing to Amari he added in a low voice. "I think they're all kind of scared of _her._"

"I heard that," she responded giving him the _watch it_ look that every mother had in their repertoire of expressions

"So has Jai been a good patient?" Auggie asked.

"He is stubborn. Like his father," Amari stated.

No, I got that trait from _you_," Jai countered.

She spun around to face him muttering what sounded like _Ungrateful child_ in Hindi.

Jai threw up his hands in mock surrender and fell back against the pillows laughing.

Listening to the good natured give-and-take between the pair, Annie couldn't help but notice the genuine affection Jai and his mother had for each other as opposed to the relationship he appeared have with his father.

The room suddenly fell silent when the door opened and Henry Wilcox strode in. "Hello, Son," he said walking over to the bed.

Amari was the first to react. Drawing herself up up her full height and glaring at her ex-husband she snapped, "We talk. Outside. Now!" As she was speaking she had gotten between father and son and was all but shoving Henry out the door.

Jai looked like he'd rather be any place but there. Sighing he said apologetically, "I'm sorry you've had to see this but mom hasn't really said a civil word to him ever since the divorce and custody battle. I think dad wanted to raise me as the _all American boy_ which as you can see I don't exactly fit the image."

Through the closed door the raised voices could still be heard and it was evident to all that Amari blamed Jai's father for the reason that their son had nearly died.

Annie had moved over to the side of the bed and placed her hand on Jai's shoulder asking, "How long do you think until they spring you out of here?"

He reached up and clasped her hand. "Hopefully in a couple of days. The doctor wants to make sure the infection has cleared up and there's no more fever," he replied.

The door slammed and Amari strode back in to the room muttering a few words Jai decided that were best left untranslated. "Where's dad?" he ventured to ask after a minute.

"He left. Like the coward that he is," the woman replied. She marched over to the bed. "Don't you _ever_ become like him."

"I think you're going to make sure that I'm not," the young man answered.

"That's my Jaiya," Amari stated patting him on his cheek. She turned to glance at the clock. "Time for my lecture. I'll be back later with your supper." She turned and headed for the door.

"Jaiya?" Annie asked.

Jai shrugged his shoulders and explained, "It was her name for me when I was little."

"And apparently not so little," Auggie chimed in.

"Didn't you guys ever have certain names when you were little?" Jai asked in exasperation.

"Nothing that I'd want to share as an adult," the tech op replied laughing.

"I think it's actually kind of sweet," the young woman added.

Sighing the other man threw up his hands and threatened, "If this gets around Langley I know exactly which two operatives the CIA is gonna have to replace."

"We brought you a present but if you're going to act that way-" Annie began.

"Would that happen to be the paper bag that Auggie has been attempting to conceal behind his back?" Jai asked.

"Yeah we thought you might be tired of hospital food and wanting your favorite beverage," Annie replied. "You can actually thank Auggie since it was his idea."

"Thanks," the agent replied taking the bag and pulling out the slightly cooled cup. "Does everybody at Langley miss me?"

"I can't speak for the rest but I know the baristas are missing their favorite customer," Annie replied with a laugh.

"Be glad when I can get back to work. Probably be awhile before I'm cleared tout in the field again," Jai said taking a sip of the latte'.

"Hey, are you going to be in trouble for having that?" Annie asked.

"From the nurses-no and my mother-maybe," the young man replied.

"I think Auggie and I are going to take off now so you can finish the latte and hopefully dispose of the evidence before your mother finds out," Annie said with a laugh.

"Hey, thanks for coming by, Annie. And you too, Auggie," Jai answered. He gave them a wave as they headed for the door.

Leaving the hospital the two agents decided that the popular DC area restraunt and bar _Square 109 _sounded like a good a place as any to stop at. Taking a booth in nonsmoking they ordered the ever popular pan fried chicken.

"You know I almost feel sorry for Jai.," Auggie commented as they waited for their orders to be brought. "I know he was already messed up by having Henry Wilcox as a father but have to watch his parents fighting like that. When I think about the fact that next year my parents are celebrating their forty-second anniversary next spring."

"I know what you mean. We both came from a fairly normal home life. Not that our lives are anything but that now," Annie replied taking a sip of her Coke.

"From what I could hear when Henry Wilcox showed up it sure sounded like he'd met his match," Auggie said.

"You think? She was almost pushing him out the door," Annie replied.

"Now that would've been a sight to see," the tech op answered with a laugh.

"Hey, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Annie asked after a minute.

"Working," the tech op replied.

"Working?" the young woman repeated.

"I traded off with Lee Dillon. His kid brother is home before heading off for Iraq. I couldn't let him miss the chance to be with his brother. Anyway that'll give me a few extra days at Christmas to be home. And I have a new baby niece I've yet to meet," Auggie replied sounding excited. "You know sometime you should come with me. Get the whole Anderson clan Christmas experience."

"Sounds fun. This year I'm not sure I'll do for Christmas. I think it all depends on what Danielle and Michael have planned," the young woman said.

The waitress brought their meals and they sat back to enjoy the good home cooked food.

_A/N Square 109 is a real place getting it's name from the street number and the fact it's located on a historic square. Pan fried chicken is on the menu Tuesdays and Thursdays not Saturdays though._

_One more chapter left to finish. Hope everybody has enjoyed reading this as I have writing it. _


	20. I Always Said Blue Was Your Color

___A/N First of all I do not own any claim to Covert Affairs, I just enjoy playing around with the characters._

___Hope everybody's enjoyed the friendship between Jai and Annie. And Auggie._

___Thanks to all who've been reading. When I get time and inspitation I'll try and write more._

_**SAVING AGENT WILCOX**_

In the past week and a half Annie had mainly been sent on short term ops including an intel transfer that took her to Paris where she'd managed to do some surprise Christmas shopping. She also received a short humorous email from Jai letting her know how he was doing.

_Annie, I just wanted to let you know I'm home from the hospital and being (s)mothered by my mom. So far she's taken away the car keys but at least I get to play with my toys. Take care and I hope to see you Thanksgiving unless I'm still grounded. PS Could you manage to bring me a latte soon? All my mom fixes is tea which I never really developed a fondness for much to her dismay. If you can do that I will be eternally grateful._

Laughing Annie had sent back a quick reply.

_Jai, as tempting it is to have you eternally grateful I think you're on your own with this. Let me know_ _if you've regained your freedom so I can have Danielle set a place for you. Anyway we plan to be eating at 1:30 if you can drop by. _

Now it was Thanksgiving morning and Annie checked her email to see if Jai had contacted her. Finding none she supposed he was still enjoying time with his mother. Anyway she'd told him what time dinner was being served in case he did show up.

Slipping into a comfortable pair of sweats and putting her hair up in a sloppy ponytail the young woman headed for the main house. Inside she found Danielle already busy in the kitchen while the rest of the family were watching the parades.

"I'm surprised you didn't have your little helpers," Annie said entering the kitchen.

"I did last night. What time did you get in anyway?" her sister asked.

"Flight got in at 8:00 last night and I had to stop off work. Good news is I should be free until Monday," Annie replied. She peered at the bird Danielle was currently preparing. "Where did you get such a big turkey?"

"I had to get a couple for a catering job early in the week and since it was so cheap I thought I'd get one for here. Think we'll have plenty of leftovers?" Her sister asked.

"I'd say so," Annie commented. "I think I'll fix Auggie a plate for tomorrow. he had to work today and was probably just eating out for Thanksgiving dinner."

"Do you know yet if Jai is coming over? I did have the girls make him a place card just in case," Danielle said after a minute.

"I haven't heard from him. He has been kind of busy though. I told him what time we were eating," the younger woman replied. "Now what do you need me to do?"

"You can start on the dressing," Danielle answered.

"I see you're still using Grandma's recipe," Annie commented.

"What would Thanksgiving be without it?" her sister replied.

Finally the dinner preparations were complete, the turkey on a platter ready to be carved and Danielle was chasing the girls out of the kitchen to keep them from snacking.

Annie was heading for the door when the bell rang. "I'll get it," she called out. Pulling the door open she saw Jai standing there his arm still in a sling and a paper bag in his hand. "Hey, Jai.

Jai thought she could look good in anything. Giving her a smile he said, "You don't look half bad yourself."

Annie blushed slightly at the compliment. "I was just going over to the guesthouse to get ready." She lowered her voice. "How are you going to explain the sling?"

"I've got it all figured out," he replied.

"Go on in and make yourself comfortable," the young woman said.

"Who was at the door?" Danielle asked emerging from the kitchen.

"It's Jai. You and the others can keep him entertained while I go get dressed," her sister answered.

"Hello, Jai. Glad you could come," Danielle said taking the bag he we was holding.

"It's sparkling grape juice. Thought it might be good with the meal if you'd like," the young man explained.

"What happened to your arm?" Danielle was asked.

Jai turned to wink at Annie and replied, "I sprained it playing squash this past weekend. Guess I was more out of shape than I thought."

Annie mentally applauded Jai's explanation as she headed for the guesthouse. Quickly she changed into a more dressier outfit and slipped on a pair of flats. A quick spritz of the body spray that Claire had given her on her last birthday and she was all set.

"I always said blue was your color," Jai commented as Annie entered the room now dressed in a pair of navy jeans and midnight blue pullover sweater.

"And you are an incorrigible flirt," Annie replied playfully swatting his good arm. "Come on. Seating arrangements were left to the girls and I made them save a spot for you just in case."

"Thanks," the young man said.

"Since I didn't hear from you I figured you might be either grounded or spending Thanksgiving with your mother," Annie replied.

"Mom doesn't exactly celebrate Thanksgiving. Besides she had to head for Boston for the next stop on her lecture series. In fact I dropped her off at the airport before I headed her," Jai explained.

"Did you have a good visit with her?" Annie asked.

"As a matter of fact I did. Took her out to eat at her favorite Indian restaurant last night," the young man replied.

"There's been some last minute switching of the seating so your guess is as good as mine as to where you'll end up, " Danielle said as they all entered the dining room.

"Just as long as they don't have me come between you and Michael," Annie joked.

"It's just for one meal anyway if you do," her sister replied.

Annie was amused to find that the girls had seated Jai and herself across from each other and she was indeed coming between Danielle and Michael.

"Now who's idea was it to seat me between the two prettiest girls in the room?" Jai asked causing Chloe and Claire to giggle and Annie to mouth _Incorrigible flirt_ at him.

"Why did you seat me and Jai across from each other?" Annie asked.

"So you can look at each other while you eat," Chloe said matter of factly.

"That makes sense," Annie conceded as they took their seats at the table.

The meal consumed and the girls off to play in their room or take naps whichever came first and Michael watching football, the two agents wandering into the kitchen to find Danielle preparing a take home plate of leftovers.

"It's time I was leaving but let me thank you for the wonderful meal," Jai told Danielle.

"I glad you could come over," she replied. "Here's something for tomorrow. You can give Annie the dish next time you see her."

"I'll be back and help clear up as soon as I get changed," Annie told her sister.

"Escort you back home, Annie?" Jai asked

"Certainly you can," the young woman replied with a smile.

Outside the guesthouse door Jai said, "I had a great time."

"I'm glad you were able to be here," she replied pulling him into a loose hug. "When are you going to be back to Langley?"

"Monday if I can manage. I know I can't go back on in the field yet but surely something I can do around the DPD unless Joan or Arthur send me home," Jai replied.

"I think everybody will be glad to see to see you back. "It's been three weeks since we left for Belarus," Annie reminded him.

"I know. Bye, Annie. See you Monday," Jai answered. Giving her a wave he headed for his car.

Annie watched him drive off before stepping inside.

_A/N Well this is the end of the fic. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing. _


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